BASIC SCIENCE

Standard
VIII

Part I

Government of Kerala
Department of Education
2009
 THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He

Bharatha Bhagya Vidhata

Punjab Sindhu Gujarata Maratha

Dravida Utkala Banga

Vindhya Himachala Yamuna Ganga

Uchala Jaladhi Taranga

Tava Subha Name Jage

Tava Subha Ashisa Mage,

Gahe Tava Jaya Gatha

Jana Gana Mangala Dayaka Jaya He

Bharatha Bhagya Vidhata

Jaya He Jaya He Jaya He

Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya He.

Prepared by :
State Council of Educational
Research and Training (SCERT)
Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram - 12, Kerala.
Website www.scertkerala.gov.in
e-mail scertkerala@asianetindia.com
© Government of Kerala • Department of Education • 2009
Dear students
We have already identified how to make learning an
enjoyable experience by observing and analysing the
changes happening around us. Learning is a continuous
process and the textbook is one of its many instruments.
You should utilise all items in the textbook for the
construction of knowledge.

The knowledge you construct through thinking, collecting

data and sharing your experiences with friends lead the
learning process forward. A number of questions will arise
in your mind during the process of knowledge construction.
You may not get answers for all of them. It is you yourself
who should formulate ways for finding the answers to such
questions. Your textbook and your teacher will help you in
this attempt.

Learning becomes enjoyable when learning activities

become effortless. Many such possibilities are explored in
this book. May you be able to go through them along with
your friends and make learning a real celebration.

With love and regards,

A.P.M. Mohammed Haneesh IAS

Director (in charge)
SCERT Kerala
 Members participated in the Textbook workshop
Dr. K.Abdul Rasheed Sri. Narayanan.M.P
Sri. Abdul Sathar Sri. M.Pradeep Kumar
Sri.Abdul Karim.K.C Sri. Pradeep Kumar.K.V
Sri. Aloshious.E Sri. Rajan.M.V
Sri. Anil.M.R Sri. Rajesh.K.O
Sri. Anil Kumar.P.K Sri. K.Ramakrishnan
Sri. Baburaj Payyath Sri. Ramesh Kumar.M.K
Sri. P.D.Baby Sri. R.Renjith
Sri. Balakrishnan Kadan Sri. Sanil Kumar.M.P
Dr. Biju.A Sri. Sathyajyothi.S
Sri. Boby Jose Sri. Satheesh Kumar.S
Smt. Bindu.K.C Sri. C.Sasidharan
Smt. Famila.E.R Sri. V.K.Sasidharan
Sri. N.K.Gopalan Sri. Sebastian Lukose.T.J
Sri.K.Jayarajan Sri. Sibi Mathai
Sri. Jose Paul Dr. K.S.Sajan
Sri. N.G.Krishna Pillai Sri. Sirajudheen.P.T
Sri. Madhu Kumar.P.R Sri. Stalin.V.A
Sri. Manoj Kumar.P.P Sri. Shyamjith.M
Sri. Muhammed Abdul Nazar.K Sri. K.Suresh Kumar
Dr. Muhammed Unni Elias Musthafa Dr. R.K.Sunil Kumar
Sri. K. Muraleedharan Dr. R.Suresh Chandrakurup
Sri. V. Muraleedharan Sri. Thilakan.K.
Dr. K.Murukan Sri. Venugopalan.V.V
Sri. P.S.Mathew Sri. Vinod.E.C

Artists Experts
National Experts
Sri. Abhilash.T.K Dr. Jayaraman.P.R
Sri. Bimal Kumar.S Dr. Vinod Raina
Dr.Anitha Ramphal Sri. Mohankumar.C
Sri. Divakaran.M.M Sri. K.Pappootti
Sri.C.Rajendran Dr. Subash Babu
Sri. Sajith Sudhakar Sri. K.Suresh Babu
Academic Co-ordinators Dr. Vijayakumaran Nair
Smt. Sobha Jacob
Dr.Ancy Varghese

English Version
Smt. Famila.E.R Prof. Krishna Pillai.P
Smt. Geetha Nair.S Smt. Preetha.P.V
Sri. Jalson Jacob Sri.S.Raveendran Nair
Sri. Jose D' Sujeev Sri. Sivan.V
Sri. Jose K Philip Sri. Suresh Kumar.K.
Academic Co-ordinator
Sri.K.T.Dinesh

State Council of Educational Research and Training

Vidyabhavan, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram 695 012
 Contents
1. Agriculture: A Way of Life 07
2. An Address for Living Beings 23
3. The Beauty of Nature 36
4. Changes 47
5. Molecule, Atom 59
6. Structure of an Atom 68
7. For Stability 79
8. The Path of Light 87
9. Motion 95
10. Force 103
11. Thrust and Pressure 110
 1 -AGRICULTURE: A WAY OF LIFE

A journey to Haritham
We can never forget our visit to Scaria Pillai Chettan’s farm. The name
of his house ‘Haritham’ itself shows his love for agriculture. The fifty
cents of land owned by him is fenced with seemakonna (Glyricidia) and
muringa (Moringa). The pepper vine that creeps over seemakonna
(Glyricidia) and the koval (Cephalandra) that spreads over the fence is
a refreshing sight. Coconut trees, plantain, chembu (coloccasia), elephant
foot yam, koorka (coleus) etc. are also there in the farm. There were
also bitter gourd, snake gourd, beans, chilly, ladies finger , tomato,
pumpkin and spinach in his farm. There is a small pond for rearing
fish. There are five cows in the shed. Cow dung and vegetable wastes
are used for preparing vermi compost. Fodder grass is growing beside
the fence. It is a real garden full of beautiful greenery where not even
an inch of land lies wasted. His skill in agricultural planning is a model
for any farmer to follow. He has minimised the cost of agricultural
production by making use of the ‘waste’ of one item for another. The
paddy cultivation done in twenty cents of land is also utilised for this.
The roof of his house too is not left out. Hen, quail and pet birds are
reared there. Mariamma Chettathi takes care of these birds.
When asked what reply he would give to the people who believe that
agriculture is not profitable he humbly answered this question with
his usual smile.
‘For a farmer, agriculture is a way of life. Who can say that life is not
profitable?’ We looked at him as if we didn’t understand anything. He
continued. ‘Lack of proper marketing facilities and fluctuation in prices
are the major problems a farmer faces. The farmers’ collectives should
take the initiative to expand marketing facilities and to procure crops
locally. Fortunately, there are such enterprises in our locality.
Agriculture is profitable for those who are interested in it. The income
I get from it is sufficient for me and my family.’
Scaria Pillai Chettan is not merely boasting. His homestead is teeming
with agricultural crops which are life itself for him.

The passage given above is a description of a field trip conducted by Sabu

and his friends. Can we make agriculture profitable as claimed by Scaria Pillai
Chettan? Write your assumptions.
Observe the illustration of Scaria Pillai Chettan’s farm.
Compare the description of the field trip given and conduct a group discussion
on the basis of the indicators given below. Find out whether your assumption
was right or wrong.

Fig.1.1
Farm land
 How could he make the maximum utilisation of the land?
 How could he lower the cost of production?
 Does agriculture mean growing of plants alone? Formulate a working
definition for agriculture.

8
Can agriculture be made profitable by utilising the farm land to the maximum
and by adopting ways of lowering the cost of production?
List down issues that prevent agriculture from becoming profitable.
$ Lack of availability of quality planting materials.
$ Lack of awareness on high yielding varieties of animals and their
management.
$ Lack of awareness on scientific ways of manuring.
$
$
We have identified that there are a lot of issues which prevent agriculture
from becoming profitable. These issues have to be analysed scientifically and
remedial measures have to be adopted.
Look at the following conversation between
two farmers. Number doesn’t matter. My
plants don't have the ability to
resist diseases. Your pea
There are countless peas on plants are far better in this.
your pea plant. But mine has
very few. Not enough to be
counted on my fingers.
What a pity!

Fig. 1.2

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the pea plants of both the
farmers? Can’t we develop pea plants of better quality from them if we
combine the qualities of both varieties together? You have already learned
that the method used for this is called hybridisation.

9
Analyse the illustration given below using the hints. Formulate a working
definition for hybridisation and record it in your science diary.

Selected male plant

Selected female plant

Removes stamens from Collects pollen grains

female flower from the male flower

Pollinates the female flower

using the collected pollen
grains

Covers the mother plant

with polythene bag

Collects seeds

Selects and grows better

varieties of offsprings.
Germinates Fig. 1.3
the seeds Hybridisation

10
 What are the factors to be considered while selecting the female/ male
parent plant for hybridisation?
 Why do we remove the stamens from the female plant?
 How do we pollinate them?
 Why do we cover the female flower after pollination?
Complete the illustration given below recording the various steps of
hybridisation.
Selection of parent plants with
different qualities

Illustration I

All the plants thus formed may not be of the expected quality. Better quality
plants are produced by repeating this process in several generations. Such
choices for ensuring better quality are known as selection. The hybrid varieties
developed through hybridisation contribute a lot to the progress of
agricultural sector. Nowadays a number of hybrid varieties having features
like high yield, disease resistance, ability to give high yield within a short
period, are widely used.

11
You are familiar with the following hybrid varieties used widely in the
agricultural sector, aren't you?
$ Aswathy, Jaya, IR-8……. - rice
$ TxD, DxT,………………… - coconut
Collect the names of other hybrid varieties widely used nowadays and display
them on the wall magazine.
Hybridisation is utilised for developing improved varieties of plants and
animals as well.
There are a number of institutions in our state which have gained global
attention in developing high yielding varieties of plants and animals.
‘Sunandini’ is a product of Indo-Swiss project, Mattupetty.

(a) Sunandini (b) Athulya

Fig. 1.4

‘Athulya’ was developed at the poultry farm of Kerala Agricultural University.

A few institutions which have become famous in this field are listed below.
Enquire and learn more about agricultural research institutions.
$ Rice Research Institute – Pattambi, Mankombu
$ Rubber Research Institute – Kottayam
$ Pepper Research Institute – Panniyoor (Kannur)
$ Central Plantation Crops Research Institute – Kasargode, Kayamkulam
$ Central Tuber Crops Research Institute – Sreekaryam
(Thiruvananthapuram)
$
$
 Is it necessary to maintain indigenous varieties since we have high
quality hybrid varieties? What is your opinion?

12
Read the description given below and examine how far the opinion you
recorded is correct. Record your inference in your science diary.

The greatness of native varieties

The greenery of Kerala has been our native biological wealth depletes
the result of the inseparable and it creates a severe crisis. We seem
relationship between our climate, to forget even the basic fact that we
soil and vegetation. We had a lot can develop high quality varieties
of native varieties of plants only from the native varieties that
suitable to our climate and were have withstood the test of time.
disease resistant. Varieties of rice
like ‘Thavalakkannan’, ‘Kulappala’
and Chitteni’, ‘Kilichundan mango
tree which yields sweet mangoes
in plenty, ‘Palayamkodan’ plantain
etc. are some among them. Our
yam and colocasia had butter-like
softness when cooked. ‘Vechoor’
cow which yielded milk sufficient
for one family had been our own.
It was less expensive to manage
them as they had a short stature
and high disease resistance. With
the advent of the high yielding
hybrid varieties, most of the
native varieties have become Fig. 1.5
‘Vechoor’ cattle and native mango tree
endangered or extinct. As a result,

You have learned that tissue culture is the technique

used to develop plants with the similar qualities of the
parent plant. The greatest advantage of this method is
that a large number of plants can be produced from a
single plant tissue. Through tissue culture it is possible
to produce, within a short period of time, a large
number of replicas of better quality plants developed
through hybridisation.

Fig. 1.6
Tissue culture plantain and saplings
13
Are you convinced of the importance of good quality organisms and certain
methods of developing such varieties?
The growing of good quality plants alone doesn’t necessarily produce good
yield. You have already learned that plants require a number of elements for
growth and they get these elements from soil. The soil should be fertile enough
if these elements are to be available. We manure the soil to maintain its fertility.
Examine the illustration and find out how bio fertilizers and chemical
fertilizers act upon the soil.

Organic wastes

Animals
Micro organisms

Plants Decay
Application of bio
fertilizers
Mineral salts in
Application of
the soil
chemical fertilizers
Illustration II

Manure yielding microbes

If we add the micro organisms that help in the decomposition of organic
materials to soil, the process of decomposition will be quick and
complete.There are micro organisms which can convert nitrogen into nitrates
and phosphorus which is insoluble in water into soluble form.Azotobacter
converts the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Ammonia is useful to plants
as nitrogenous fertilizer. Culture of Azotobacter is available in the market. It is
highly effective for crops like coconut, tapioca, sugar cane etc. The aquatic
plant Azola too acts as a good bio-fertilizer. The special type of cells found in
the cyanobacteria living in this plant can convert atmospheric nitrogen into
nitrogenous fertilizer. Besides, when Azola decays, plants get elements like
phosphorus, potassium, zinc and iron as manure. Fungi which belong to the
family of Mycorrhiza help plants to get phosphorus fertilizer.
Before the application of microbial manure, the availability of organic material
in the soil should be ensured. There should be sufficient irrigation. Chemical
fertilizers or pesticides should not be used along with microbial manure. The
micro organisms can exist in soil only if these precautions are taken.

14
Discuss with your friends the application of fertilizers on the basis of the
indicators given below. Formulate inferences and note them in the science
diary.
 How are organic wastes and bio fertilizers converted into mineral salts
of the soil?
 Which is rapidly absorbed – bio fertilizer or chemical fertilizer? Why?
 How do bio fertilizer and microbial fertilizer differ?
 If chemical fertilizers are used excessively, micro organisms in the soil
will be destroyed. How does it affect the natural composition of the soil?
 Which is more beneficial to plants – chemical fertilizer or bio fertilizer?
What can be done to ensure the availability of bio fertilizer?
Examine what Scaria Pillai Chettan did to ensure the availability of bio
fertilizer in his method of cultivation.
Are you convinced of the importance of integrating agriculture and live stock
management?
Which animals can be reared as part of agriculture? List them.
$ $
$ $
$ $
The agrarian culture began when man could choose what he needed from
nature and grow them in his surroundings. In the course of time, many wild
plants and wild animals became part of our family. Man’s scientific
understanding helped him to identify and develop qualitatively good ones
among them. Many exotic varieties were brought into our land. Hybrid
offspring of better quality were created through hybridisation.

Rearing of cattle and birds has improved from time to time. Rivers and seas
were the only source of fish once. But today with the advent of the agricultural
technique called pisciculture, the method of rearing fish in man made water
bodies have become wide spread. Honey bees which were found only in
crevices on trees could be raised in apiaries by the technique called apiculture.

Examine the pictures and notes given as 1.7 (a), (b), (c), (d).

Collect information and complete the table given.

15
 Sunandini, Jersey, Swiss Brown etc.
are high yielding cattle suitable for
the climate of Kerala. Murrah,
Badavari, Niliravi etc. are better
quality buffaloes and Malabari and
Jamnapari are better varieties of
goats.

Fig. 1.7 (a)

We have developed and have been

rearing many varieties of good
quality birds. Hen varieties like
Minorka, Gramalakshmi, Ankona and
Giriraja; ducks like Muscovi,
Pekkins, Royans and quails like
Bobwhite and Japanese quails
belong to this group.
Fig. 1.7 (b)

Edible fish, ornamental fish and

prawns can be reared economically.
Edible fish like Gourami, Karpe, Rohu
and Katla are suitable for rearing.
Gold fish, Angel and Molly are
ornamental fish. ‘Naaran, Karrah
etc. are widely cultured prawn
varieties.

Fig. 1.7 (c)

Honey is a nutrient rich and

medicinally valuable ideal food.
Bee-keeping is a profitable job,
especially in our state which has
plenty of rubber plantations.
Varieties like Melliferra and Apis
(Njodiyan) are widely used in
apiculture.
Fig.1.7 (d)

16
 The quality and demand of silk clothes
increase the requirement of silk.
Making use of this possibility,
sericulture can be done profitably.
Mulberry plants can be grown as inter
crop in coconut groves. The larva
which hatches out of the egg of the silk
worm moth is fed with mulberry
leaves. When its body is inside the
cocoon at one stage of its growth, we
can extract silk from the cocoon.

Fields Varieties Main products

Cattle rearing
Bee keeping(apiculture)
Pisciculture
Sericulture
Table 1.1

$ How can we make use of animals profitably in farm lands?

Suggest models. The combined use of plants and animals in this manner
in farm lands is integrated farming.
Are the possibilities of integrated farming made use of in your locality?
Enquire about it and prepare a short description.
We have understood that while cultivating agricultural crops we should select
varieties of better quality for ensuring better income.
Agriculture may become uneconomical because of the different types of
diseases affecting plants and animals.

17
Analyse the newspaper collage given below. Formulate inferences using the
hints given and record them in the science diary.

Foot and mouth disease: different preventive measures

Thrissur: There is effective Experienced farmers opine
Quickwilt vaccination for the deadly that keeping the cattle on
Kumali: The fungus foot and mouth disease. This rubber-mat spread in the
that affect the pepper c disease can be controlled by shed is also effective.
keeping the cattle shed clean.
Rains:
Anthrax cern Heavy spreads:
Threat of of cattle from the li: A con rs isease pours
x
: The influ as stopped. The
M aha
ut farm
e Pink d: As the monsuosoanttack on
Palakkad st a te sh y arecan recanut pla am
Kottay vily, the fun
g
neighbou
ri n g isease ma a
bacterial d in the o w n hea b b e r .
is rgode:
a t th d r u
threat is th p e o p le . K a s a .
om cattle
to district
spread fr of the
Avian flu confirmed
Coconut Mite
Farmers appre : Thiruvananthapuram: The anxiety that
mutant varieties of this virus which
Ala he
ppuzha: Infectnsive: cause the disease in poultry will spread
which spread ion of Coconut
s across differ Mite to humans have created panic.
of the state ca ent parts
nnot be contro
lled.

Name the micro organisms that cause diseases.


 Which are the diseases likely to be spread from domestic animals to man?
Most of these diseases spread in a short span of time. Now, We have effective
vaccinations against them.
Like that of diseases, pests also cause reduction of agricultural yield.
List the pests which affect various crops harmfully.

Name of the pest Crops infected

Brown Plant Hopper Paddy
Fruit fly (kaayeecha) Vegetables

Table 1.2
Agriculture will become economical only if the pests are controlled effectively.
Read the descriptions on the methods of pest control given and find answers
to the questions given below through a discussion.

18
Different methods of pest control

Then Now
Mechanical control using devices Chemical pesticides are widely
like traps was mainly used. Bugs used. The environmental problems
were destroyed by placing burning caused by them are numerous.
torches in the field.
Organic pesticides like tobacco
decoction and neem kernel
suspension are not widely used.
Biological control of pests using
natural enemies of pests has to be
promoted.
Biological control of pests using
In order to destroy leaf roller, water
containing decayed fish was trichocards and micro organisms
sprayed. This was done to attract the like pseudomonas are good
predators of this worm. In order to indicators.
pick beetles which destroy coconut,
beetle sticks were used.

Trichocards
co n tainin g e ggs of an insect
s
These are card m a b e longing to th
e
g re m
called tricho w a sp . These cards are
in d o f
family of a k ce s and are affixed
to
all p ie
torn into sm atch out of egg
s
Beetles were also controlled by leaves. The insects which h ke
gs of insects li
placing some sand into the sheath selectively feed on the eg
of coconut leaves. Pesticides were stem borer and leaf roller.
not widely used.

 How can we classify pest control methods?

 Evaluate the pest control methods of olden and modern days. What is
your opinion?
 What is your perspective on effective pest control?

19
Will agriculture become profitable if we can reduce the cost of production?
Analyse the cartoon and the news item given below and formulate inferences.

What is the use of cultivating like this?

When the production increases, the
price decreases. When prices increase,
there will be no products. It is quite
easy to say agriculture is life. But when
we face reality….

 What is the issue mentioned in the cartoon?

 What solution can you suggest for this issue?
 Do you agree to the farmer’s opinion given in the cartoon? Why?

Procurement and Marketing Centres All Over the State

...... In order to overcome the the selling prices. The amount
fluctuations in prices and the thus set apart will be returned
exploitation of middlemen, to the farmer as bonus. Along
farmers’ collectives have become with this market facilities for the
active throughout the state. Such procurement of crops like
collectives provide facilities for pepper, coconut, arecanut, rice
farmers to sell their products etc. are also provided. The items
directly by avoiding middlemen. thus collected are sold off when
Anyone can become a member of prices become higher. Loans at
this collective by paying a very low rate of interest will be
nominal fees. Farmers are paid provided to farmers for
after reducing five percent from cultivation.

Haven’t you understood how the agricultural sector can be maintained

economically and sustainably?
However, a mere understanding of this is not sufficient. Agriculture becomes
economical and enjoyable only when farming is actually done.

20
Shall we develop a small vegetable garden?
What shall we include in it?
When you hear ‘vegetable garden’, don’t doubt whether you can do it. It is a
great thing to produce even a fraction of the food items you need. So your
vegetable garden can be of any size. In order to overcome the limitation of
land you can plant vegetables in a sack or flower pot. Note the hints helpful
for making a vegetable garden given in the table.
Collect information with the help of your teacher, and engage in the making
of a vegetable garden.
Varieties Time and method of planting Care to be provided

Ladies Can be planted in beds mixed At the time of planting, cow

finger with cow dung. There should be dung and then vegetable
a gap of forty five centimeters mixture can be given as
manure. Tobacco decoction and
between two saplings.Time: yellow trap can be used to
February – March, June – July, prevent white fly (velleecha)
October - November and leaf roller

Can be planted at a gap of 60cm Add cow dung and ash and stir
Brinjal each in beds mixed with cow the soil. Apply neem kernel
dung. Suitable for plantation suspension and tobacco
decoction intermittedly.
throughout the year.
Provide suitable irrigation.
Can be planted at a gap of 20cm
Pea Cow dung and ash can be added
each in raised beds one metre
as basic manures. When the
broad. Provide support for some
plant grows up add 50g each of
types of them to climb up.
powdered oil cake. Pests can be
repelled using neem oil
emulsion and neem oil cake.
Provide suitable irrigation.

Better seeds and nurturing methods can be got from experienced farmers or
agricultural officers.

Planning the activity

• Selection of the variety
• Deciding on the plot
• Understanding the method of
cultivation
• Planting, nurturing and harvesting

21
What were your experiences while going through this activity?
Prepare a note of your experience.

Preparation of the note of your experience

Some hints
1. Item/items to be cultivated
2. The day on which bed was prepared
3. The day on which planting / sowing was done
4. The day of germination
5. The day on which the first leaf sprouted out
6. a) Manures used b) Days on which manures were applied
7. a) Days on which pests were destroyed
b) The method of pest control adopted
8. The day on which first flower appeared
9. The day of first harvest
10. The total yield
11. The experience of going through these activities (difficulties/
happiness)

Exchange the notes you have prepared in the class and read them.
It will provide you an opportunity to acquaint with different methods of
cultivation and a variety of experiences. Agriculture is one of the chief means
of making man a part of nature.

Agriculture becomes profitable

when it becomes one’s means of life.

22
 2 AN ADDRESS FOR LIVING BEINGS

Don’t be so proud.
There is none to excel us
We are the most in the beauty of colours.
abundant species on We are not less in
this earth. Not behind number either.
any in beauty too.

Don’t quarrel, dear friends.

There are about three lakh species
of us on earth and the animal
species are more than four times
of us. Isn’t it better to think that
none of us are bad?

Are there this much plant and animal species on this earth?
How many of them are familiar to you? List them.
$
$
$
Do you think unfamiliar species are more in number? How can we learn about
these living things? Is it possible to learn about each living thing separately?
How can we make the learning easy?
Can we classify them into different groups based on any criteria?
How do we classify?
You may know that living things are seen in various colours and size. There is
difference in their habitat too. In what other features do living things differ?
$ Shape
$
$
Shall we group them on the basis of similarity of colour?
Haven’t plants, grasshopper and tree snake got green colour? If we group
them together as one category on the basis of colour, won’t there be a lot of
anomalies?
Can we include earthworm and snake, both of which are cylindrical in shape,
in one category?
What are the features that distinguish earthworm from snake?
$
$
From ancient times onwards, man had tried to group organisms on the basis
of various criteria. Let’s learn about some scientists who tried to make this
classification more scientific.

Father of biology. He classified both plants and

animals. He classified animals into two groups: red
blooded and non-red blooded.

Fig. 2.1. (a)

Aristotle
(BC 384-322) Greece
Father of Ayurveda. Classified about two hundred
animals and plants and recorded them in the book
‘Charaka Samhitha’.
Fig. 2.1 (b)
Charaka
AD 1st century. India

Laid the foundation of scientific method of classification.

He recorded more than 18,000 plants in the book, ‘Historia
Generalis Plantarum’. He used the term species for the
first time.
Fig. 2.1 (c)
John Ray
1627-1705 England

24
Haven’t you understood the historical background of classification?
Now look at the animals below.

Fig. 2.2
Which is the common group to which all these animals belong?
Write the names of these animals in appropriate boxes on the basis of the
indicators given below.

Vertebrates

Those that give birth to

young ones

Carnivores

Those which can

withdraw the claws on
their paws

Those with huge body

and roaring sound

Illustration I
How can we classify them further into small groups?

25
We include lion, tiger and cheetah in one group, because there are a lot of
similarities among them. But they have many differences too, haven’t they?
In classification we categorize organisms into large groups on the basis of
their similarities and small groups on the basis of differences among them. If
we want to categorize the above organisms further into small groups, we
should find out how they differ from one another.
Only a lion can give birth to cubs. Cases of tiger and cheetah are the same.
Each of them belongs to different species. Only organisms belonging to the
same species can produce fertile offspring through natural sexual
reproduction. A species is a group of organisms which have close resemblance.
The basic constituent of classification is species. There are different levels of
classifications from species up to the living world.
Look at the description below and record the different levels of classification
in the science diary.

Living worldhcomposed of various kingdoms plantae and animalia

(plantae-multicellular
producers which do not have
the power of locomotion.
animalia- multicellular
consumers which have the
power of locomotion).

Kingdom h composed of various phyla eg: - animalia

Phylum h composed of various classes eg: - Chordata

(Animals having vertebral column)
Class hcomposed of various orders eg: - mammalia.
(Those who give birth to young
ones and feed them with milk)
Order h composed of various families eg: -carnivora
(Flesh eating animals in mammalia)
Family h composed of various genus eg: - felidae
(cheetah, tiger, lion, cat )
Genus h composed of various eg: - panthera
species (cheetah, tiger, lion)
Species h composed of same kind of eg: tiger - a species named
organisms tigris, Cheetah-a species named
pardes, Lion-a species named leo

Illustration II

26
Identify the various levels of classification of tiger and complete the worksheet
below.
Kingdom-
Phylum -
Class -
Order -
Family -
Genus -
Species -

Worksheet 2.1
Haven’t we identified the various levels of classification of tiger? Similarly
complete the worksheet for identifying the levels of classification of cat and
dog and record it in your science diary.

Levels of classification Cat Dog

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family canidae

Genus felis canis

Species domesticus familiaris

Worksheet 2.2

Isn’t it clear that in scientific classification each organism has its own levels
of classification?
Just as we classified the animal kingdom, we can classify the plant kingdom
too. For this, select criteria suitable to the special features of plants.
Let’s look at the levels of classification of coconut tree.

27
 Kingdom - plantae
Phylum - angiospermophyta (seeds with covering)
Class - monocotyledenae (having only one cotyledon)
Series - calicinae (growing as single stem)
Family - arecaceae
Genus - cocos
Species - nucifera.

Carl Linnaeus is the scientist who classified

the living world into two kingdoms.

Carl Linnaeus suggested different

levels of classification on the basis
of similarities and differences and
devised the system of naming each
organism scientifically. Hence he is
considered the father of scientific
classification.
Fig. 2.3
Carl Linnaeus
(1707-78). Sweden

In the system of classification that we have studied there are only two
kingdoms. Can we include the organisms given below in these
kingdoms? Why? Discuss and record your opinions in the science
diary.

Bacteria Amoeba Fungus

Unicellular organisms Unicellular organisms Multicellular
without definite with definite nucleus
decomposers
nucleus (Eukaryotes)
(Eukaryotes)
(Prokaryotes)
Fig. 2.4

28
Don’t we need more kingdoms to include these
organisms?
A scientist named Robert Whittaker classified the
living world into five kingdoms. This system of
classification became more acceptable to the world
of science.

Fig. 2.5
Robert Whittaker
(1920 - 1980)
Living world America

Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

unicellular unicellular heterotrophic autotrophic heterotrophic
organisms organisms with unicellular/ multicellular multicellular
without definite nucleus multicellular organisms organisms
definite and simple organisms which do not which have
multicellular which do not have the power
nucleus the power of
organisms have the power
similar to them of locomotion of locomotion locomotion

Illustration III
The same organism might have different names in different localities.For
example tapioca has different names like ‘Kappa’, ‘Cheeni’, ‘Kolli’ and
‘Marakkizhangu’. Papaya is known as ‘Karamoosa’, ‘Oma’and ‘Kapplanga’. If
there are so many different names in Malayalam, it is quite natural that each
organism has different names in various languages. Won’t this be a hindrance
in identifying various organisms and studying about them? This problem is
solved by giving names which can be recognized internationally beyond the
limits of languages.

Fig. 2.6 (a) Fig. 2.6 (b)

29
It was Carl Linnaeus who designed the system of giving scientific names to
organisms. In this system of naming, each organism is given a dual name
which includes the name of genus first followed by the name of species. This
system of giving names to organisms in this manner is known as binomial
nomenclature.
Find out and record the scientific names of tiger, cat, dog and coconut tree
with the help of illustrations I and II and worksheets 2.1 and 2.2.
Investigate and collect the scientific names of the organisms given below and
record them in the science diary.
Papaya, paddy, tapioca, crow, man, lion.
Look at the scientific names given below.
Mangifera indica – Mango tree.
Apis indica – Honey bee.
Perna indica – Mytilus.
Aren’t the species names of all these organisms the same? Here we can’t
identify the organism with the species name alone.
Haven’t you understood the relevance of adding genus name too along with
the species name of an organism?
Taxonomy is the branch of science which identifies
organisms by observing their features, classify them on
the basis of similarities and differences and giving name
to them scientifically.
Discuss the various uses of Taxonomy, prepare a brief note and record it in
your science diary.
$ to identify the position of each organism in the living world.
$ to make learning easy.
$
$
Haven’t we understood that though there are lakhs of organisms in the
biosphere, each of them has a definite address? Now we can examine how
each organism makes use of the surroundings they live in?

30
 22
November 2008
Sat M T W T F S S M T W T F S S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2008 November 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

It was a terrible day for me. I only remember that I slipped off into the
depths when in the morning I tried to bath in the river. Someone managed
to save me. Had the help been later…Oh! I can’t even think of it. If man
could live in water like fish and fly in the air like birds…how many
accidents could have been avoided? But what’s the use of dreaming like
this?

Why doesn’t Shyam’s desire fulfill?

You have learned that each organism requires a particular natural
environment (habitat) for its existence. You have also understood that there
are biotic and abiotic components in this environment.
Only those organisms which can effectively utilize these components have
existence. Observe the surroundings of your school or your home, and classify
and list down the biotic and abiotic components there. Then complete the
table given below.

Abiotic components How they are useful to organisms

Soil Makes nutrients available to plants.

Functions as the habitat of organisms.

Air

Water

Light

Temperature

Table 2.1

We have seen how abiotic components became useful to organisms.

Like the abiotic components, other organisms also influence the existence of
an organism. We have also learned that ecosystem means a system which

31
includes the abiotic components and organisms that can live self sufficiently
with the aid of mutual relationships. Write examples of ecosystem.
$ $ $
Picture of a sacred grove is given below.

Fig. 2.7
32
We know that there are food relations between organisms in this ecosystem.
Prepare maximum possible number of food chains and record them in the
science diary.
On the basis of indicators, examine these food chains which you have recorded.
Establish mutual links between food chains on the basis of your findings and
expand the illustration given below.
 Does an organism feed on more than one organism?
 Does an organism become food for more than one organism?

Butterfly

Mango tree
Squirrel

Illustration IV
Have you understood that food chains don’t exist independently? Have you
noticed that they have become as complex as a web through mutual
relationships? This is called food web.
Classify the organisms living in the sacred grove ecosystem on the basis of
the indicators given below and record in the science diary.

Those which eat

Trophic level 4
carnivores

Carnivores Trophic level 3

Herbivores Trophic level 2

Plants Trophic level 1

Illustration V
Haven’t you arranged organisms of an ecosystem into different levels?
Each of these levels is known as trophic level.

33
Examine whether an organism comes in more than one trophic level. Record
the inferences in your science diary.
Find out other examples.
The micro organisms which decompose organic wastes are known as
decomposers. Do you know that organisms like bacteria, fungi etc belong to
this category?
Which trophic level do these micro organisms belong to?
Discuss with your friends and write the inferences.
There might be different types of ecosystems in the surroundings of your
school and home. Visit these ecosystems in small groups with the help of your
teacher and make sketches and draw diagrams of the food chains of the
organisms there. Prepare diagrammatic representations of the distribution
of organisms in various trophic levels and display them in the class room.
Different types of relations among organisms
Different types of relations are found among organisms of various types. These
relationships are useful for ensuring food and space for living. On the basis of
the benefits and harmful effects of organisms, these relations can be
categorized into two, namely, positive interaction and negative interaction.

Sucker fish (Remora) attaches itself to

shark to move about in search of food
iger
r and t
Dee

d crow
Cow an
Leech which sucks the
blood of pigs

Plover bird which pecks out leech from the

mouth of the alligator

Fig. 2.8

34
Observe the pictures given. Prepare a write-up on the relations between
organisms by analyzing the table and the indicators. Find out more examples.

Type Name Peculiarity Example

butterfly and
two organisms flowering
mutualism
are benefited plants
Positive interaction
one is benefited
and the other is
commensalism neither vanda and
benefited
nor harmed mango tree

one is benefited eagle and

predation and the other is chicken
harmed
one is benefited
parasitism and the other is mango tree
Negative interaction harmed and loranthus

both organisms
suffer at first.
competition But the crops and
organism which weeds
wins is
benefited.
Table 2.2

 What types of relationships between living things are seen in the figure?
 Which organisms benefit due to the mutual relationships?
 Which organisms are harmed?
 What is the difference between predation and parasitism?

35
 3 THE BEAUTY OF NATURE

Biosphere and me

Life is one of the greatest wonders of nature. Biosphere is that

part of earth where living organisms are seen. The biosphere
extends to a height of 10 kilometers in the atmosphere and 10
kilometers deep into the oceans. Does life exist only on earth?
There is a branch of science, exobiology which investigates
whether there is life beyond the biosphere.
The basic component of biosphere is the ecosystem where a
variety of living things live together. Those organisms which
belong to a particular species in an ecosystem are collectively
called a population. In each ecosystem, living things are seen
as a community composed of various populations. I am a
member of the human population in the biosphere which
involves numerous communities of organisms.
Humans have a better intellect than all other organisms and
they can exploit others for their own needs. Shall I too behave
the same? How long can biosphere exist like this if I do so?
Hence I should use my intellect to preserve rather than exploit
all resources of nature including the living things. What all
can I do for that?

This is a part of the paper presented by Achu in the class seminar. Examine
this and write brief notes on the mutual relationships among population,
community, ecosystem and biosphere.

Have ecosystems a role in the stable existence of the biosphere?

How does food web help in strengthening each ecosystem?

36
Observe the illustration of a food web given below. Draw inferences through
a group discussion and record them in the science diary.
You may make use of the hints given for your discussion.

Illustration I

 If any one of the organisms is removed from the food web, how will it
affect the other living beings?
 How will it affect the complexity of the food web?
 As a result, what will happen to the ecosystem?

As the complexity of the food web decreases, the equilibrium of the ecosystem
will be disturbed. Hence each organism of an ecosystem has its own identity
and importance.
There are more than 125 lakh species of organisms on earth. Observe the pie
diagram given below and compare the numbers of species identified so far.

69% 0.6% 9.4%

3.8%
17.2% Monera
Protista
Fungi
Plantae
Animalia

Illustration II

Which species are more in number? Which species is less in number?

37
The bio-richness of the earth which includes different kinds of plants, animals
and micro organisms is known as biodiversity.
What is the present state of biodiversity in your locality? Enquire. What all
things have to be considered if we want to know about it? Form the required
hypothesis using the hints given below.
 Do all species in your locality of the past exist even today?
 Has the number of species and number of organisms increased?
 Have the change in the agricultural sector influenced biodiversity?
 Does the change in life style cause depletion of biodiversity in any way?



What are the ways adopted for verifying the validity of the hypothesis formed
by you?
$ Observation.
$ Interview with elders.
$
$
Discuss with your teacher and friends about the suitable methods of collecting
information and plan a comprehensive schedule of action.
Analyze the collected information scientifically and draw inferences. Record
them in your science diary.
Aren’t you convinced of the real condition of the biodiversity in your locality?
What can be the causes of the problems affecting biodiversity? What can you
suggest to solve them? Record your findings in your science diary. Plan an
activity with the help of your teacher and friends to lessen the depletion of
biodiversity. Try to execute your plans with public participation.
Record your experiences of participating in such activities in your science
diary.
Is depletion of biodiversity confined to your area alone? What is the condition
of biodiversity at the global level? Examine the notes and illustrations given
below, draw inferences and record them in your science diary.

38
 Today’s Rain Forests
Tomorrow’s Deserts…

Tropical forests are the reservoirs

of biodiversity. As per the
statistics of 1980, about 44% of the
tropical forests/rainforests has
been lost within the last 40 years.
Every year about 75,000 square
kilometers of rainforests are
getting lost due to deforestation.
If we go on like this it won’t be a
surprise that after 80 years all our
rainforests will become deserts.
The condition of not only the
forests but also habitats like water
bodies, grasslands etc. are in great
concern.

Frogs and the Native Mango Tree

What is the relationship between them? One
might wonder. The most striking similarity
is that both are facing the threat of extinction.
The increasing demand for frog’s leg and the
use of pesticides reduced the number of frogs,
considerably. The indiscriminate planting of
other trees and hybrid varieties of mango
trees led to the disappearance of the native
mango trees.

This condition shouldn’t prevail….

Between 1600 and 1900 about 75 species of plants and animals
disappeared from the face of the earth. A same number of living things
were destroyed between 1900 and 1970 too. The rate of destruction
increased further during the last twenty five years. If it continues, how
long can the biological wealth of the green earth remain hereafter?

39
 These exist only in pictures now.

Bali Tiger Dodo Pink Headed Duck

Fig. 3.1

A true story from Malaysia

In the 1970s the fruit production of Durian tree in Malaysia became

nominal. As a result, the fruit processing industry that depended on it
collapsed. Do you know the reason? As the mangroves were cleared up
for prawn farming, the bats living there disappeared. Bats being the
pollinators of the Durian tree, their disappearance ended the fruit
production of these trees. Look at the chain of destruction here.

The rich past of biodiversity Biodiversity today

g
in
nt
hu
pol
luti
on

filli
n
of w g up
a
bod ter
ies
on
ati
est
for
de

Biodiversity tomorrow

Illustration III
40
Conservation of biodiversity doesn’t mean keeping the natural resources
unused. Besides preventing over exploitation, we should take measures to
preserve organisms which are facing extinction. We have adopted many
measures at the global level to replenish the loss of biodiversity.
The methods of conserving living things within their natural ecosystem (in-
situ conservation) and conserving them in suitable places outside their natural
ecosystem (ex-situ conservation) are practised. Wild life sanctuaries, national
parks, biosphere reserves, sacred groves etc. belong to the first category and
botanical gardens, zoological gardens, gene banks etc belong to the second
category. Along with this, there are particular projects for the conservation
of some species of living things. e.g. Project Tiger. Collecting information about
the biological wealth of each locality and preparing the biodiversity registers
are also part of conserving the biodiversity.
Look at the descriptions given below.

Wild Life Sanctuaries

This is an initiative to conserve wild animals. This

provides opportunity for animals to live in their
natural habitat. Controlled interference of man
without harming the environment and free life of
animals are permitted here. Thus wild life sanctuaries
are helpful to man as they permit collection of forest
products and allow man to fell trees and cultivate
under strict conditions. Chenthuruni and Periyar in
Kerala are examples of wild life sanctuaries.

41
 National Parks

Many farsighted activities have been planned to

repair the damages caused to the environment by
human invasions. National parks are one among
them. These parks are extensive forests which
maintain the original beauty and complexity of
nature. Here human interventions like farming,
plantation etc are strictly prohibited. Private
holdings are also not permitted in the national
parks. National parks, which give opportunities
for all organisms to live as part of nature, are the
enriched store houses of biological wealth.
Eravikulam and Silent Valley are the national
parks in Kerala.

Biosphere Reserves

Biosphere reserves are replicas of the biosphere. When compared to

other sanctuaries they have an extensive area. Many national parks
and wild life sanctuaries are seen in a biosphere reserve. Silent Valley,
Chenthuruni and Periyar belong to Nilgiri biosphere reserve. No
human activity is permitted in the core zone of a biosphere reserve. It
is the private land of the wild animals living there. The buffer zone
around this is the storehouse of many resources. These resources can
be utilized for studies and researches. Controlled human interventions
are permissible. The outer most region or transition zone is the habitat
of humans too. Human interventions are permissible in these regions.
But the entry of human beings beyond this is subject to strict conditions
and laws.

42
 Botanical Gardens
These are scientifically
designed gardens developed
Zoological Gardens with a view to conserve a
variety of plants. They are
From olden days man developed interest different from ordinary
gardens. The plants will have
in rearing wild animals in artificial
labels containing information
conditions. This interest has led to the about them. The Tropical
setting up of zoos. Though the freedom and Botanical Garden and Research
natural conditions of wild animals cannot Institute (T B G R I) at Palode,
be provided to the fullest extend, zoos have Thiruvananthapuram is an
example.
great importance as centers for conserving
many endangered animals. The zoo at
Thiruvananthapuram is a zoological
Gene Banks
garden which is very old and has a variety
Gene banks are modern
of animals.
technological system which
collect and conserve the
factors which control the characters of
organisms (genes). There are many variant
forms of gene banks like seed bank, sperm bank
etc. Genes can be collected at when available
and the organisms can be recreated when
required. Thus their extinction can be
prevented.

Project Tiger
Project Tiger was initiated when India’s national animal —
tiger faced threat of extinction. As per the project initiated
in 1973, efforts were taken to conserve tigers in their natural
habitats. There are twenty nine such centers in India. E.g:
Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkedy. Statistics indicates that
as a result of Project Tiger, there is a significant increase in
tiger population.

43
 Red Data Book
Organisms which
face the threat of
extinction are listed
in the Red Data
Book. In addition to Liontailed maca que
the Red Data Book
prepared at the
global level by
hr
IUCN, there are Red iri ta
Nilg
Data Books prepared
by many countries
on their own. On the
basis of the intensity
of threat faced by the Civet cat
organisms, they are
included as various
categories in this
Illustration IV
book. Some mammals
of Kerala which are included in this book are Lion tailed macaque, Nilgiri
thar and Civet cat.

Analyze the description you have read on the basis of the hints given below.
Write your inferences in the science diary.
 How are wild life sanctuaries different from zoological gardens?
 Biosphere reserves are a cross section of the biosphere. Why?
 How does Project Tiger stand apart from other wildlife conservation
projects?
 How does Gene Banks help in conserving biodiversity?
 What is the importance of the Red Data Book?

There are organizations and institutions at the national and international

level for developing and coordinating biodiversity conservation activities.
WWF (World Wide Fund for the conservation of plant and animal
resources), IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and
Natural Rescourses), Forest Survey of India, Wild Life Institute of India etc.
are examples. There are many laws and rules related to the conservation of
biodiversity existing in our country. Torturing and killing endangered
animals and keeping them without special permission are punishable.

44
 Legal protection

As per the biodiversity act of 2002, Biodiversity

Boards were formed in all states. On the basis of it, bio
diversity management committees should be constituted
in each local self government institution. A biodiversity
register of that locality has to be maintained by them. For
this, the service of teachers, students, volunteers etc can
be made use of. Along with making a biodiversity register,
the local self government institutions have the
responsibility to give directions to judiciously utilize the
biological wealth of that locality for the benefit of the
people there.

Why so much cruelty to animals!

The concept that man is the only heir of the biosphere is

not right. Nature has accorded equal rights and importance
to all organisms. But man tries to exploit all living things
using his intellect. Though judicious exploitation is
permissible, the reality is that many times it crosses the
limits. Nowadays animals are commonly used for scientific
experiments and they are tortured mercilessly before
slaughter and hardships are also inflicted on them. Man
himself has thought against these tendencies and has
constituted many organizations a view to ending cruelty
to animals. One such important organization is SPCA
(Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

When we consider the wealth of biodiversity in a locality, the number of

endemic species has great importance. The regions where the numbers of
endemic species are large and where the threats of ecological destruction
exist are known as ecological hot spots. There are about 34 hot spots in the
world. The most important among them are Western Ghats and the Eastern
Himalayan regions of India. India is one of the twelve mega diversity nations
of the world. This means that nature itself has selected India as a suitable

45
for most of the organisms to live in. This resource wealth is the fortune of our
country. Each Indian has the responsibility to protect it.

 Won’t over importance to the conservation of biodiversity block

development?
 If we don’t increase the pace of developmental process making use of
science and technology, will the progress of mankind be possible?

Record your personal opinion. Exchange your ideas through a debate in the
class room under the supervision of your teacher. Consolidate the debate on
the basis of the hints given below.
 How can we link conservation of biodiversity and development
together?
 What is meant by sustainable development?

46
 CHANGES
4

30 years ago

Fig. 4.1 (a)

Now

Fig. 4.1 (b)

Haven’t you seen the picture of a scene from a city? What changes have
happened here during the past thirty years? In what all ways could these
changes have affected the nature and the human beings here?
What all activities take place around us everyday? In your science diary
write the changes happening in your kitchen and surroundings.
Are there helpful and harmful ones among them? Are there natural changes
and artificial changes?
Which are they? …………………………………………………………..
In what other ways can you categorise changes? Write the classification and
the criteria for it in the science dairy.
Your friend is trying to convert water into steam and back into water.
What could be the arrangements for this?

47
Can you too do it by making some arrangements like this? Try. Write the
features of this change.

The diagram given is that of water and water vapour at the molecular level.
Can’t we understand what has happened to the molecules of water when
heated and cooled?
The changes that have happened in the
arrangement of water molecules when
water became water vapour - - - - - - - -- -
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - -- - - - -- - - -- -- -
When water vapour became water - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Water Water vapour
Fig. 4.2
Are all other changes like this? Look at the objects collected for conducting
another experiment.
Ammonium dichromate crystals, pieces of tiles or bricks, match box.
Activity
Make a heap of ammonium dichromate crystals
on the tile or brick. Cut and bury the heads of
one or two match sticks on top of this heap so
that it can catch fire easily. Burn a match stick
and set fire to the heap.
Observe the changes that have happened.
$ In colour ......................................
$ In measure .......................................
$ .......................................
Ammonium dichromate
$ ....................................... Fig. 4.3
Has a new substance been formed?

Shall we do another experiment? 6V

battery
Make arrangements as seen in the picture and copper
wire
conduct this activity.
What are the materials required? Make a list.
The solution taken: Common salt solution to
which two or three drops of phenolphthalein carbon
are added. The colour of the solution before
the experiment
3 drops of phenolphthalein
.................................................................................... added to common salt solution
Fig. 4.4

48
What I observed from the experiment?
Phenolphthalein as an indicator
What have you understood about the
An indicator can be used to
change that happened to the nature
understand whether a substance has
of the solution from its change in
acidic nature or alkaline nature.
colour? Put a tick against the suitable
statements. (9) Litmus or the juice of shoe flower or
the juice of beetroot can be used as
The solution became acidic in nature.
indicators. Phenolphthalein is an
The solution became alkaline in indicator used in the laboratory. It
nature. doesn’t show any colour in acids and
The solution hasn’t changed. neutral solutions. But it shows pink
colour in solutions of alkaline nature.
Haven’t you learned that the solution
in the end is not the one taken in the
beginning of the experiment?
Thus when substances with different properties are formed, new molecules
could have formed.
In the activity where the water was heated and cooled, only the arrangements
of the molecules have changed when heated. Hence it could be reversed when
it was cooled. These types of changes which are temporary are physical
changes.
But in the other two activities, haven’t new molecules been formed?
The substances formed here cannot be changed back to its former state of
ammonium dichromate or common salt solution. That means these are .
permanent changes.
Since new molecules (substances) are formed, permanent changes are known
as chemical changes or chemical reactions. Look at the diagram about the
changes of state of water.
 Which is the form of energy that influences the change of state of water?

receives heat
•
(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ice water water vapour.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . releases heat

Fill in the blanks (1) and (2) in the figure.

49
Find out more examples for physical changes and write what are the energy
changes related to it, in the science dairy.
Now let’s do some more activities.
Activity-1
After rubbing a piece of magnesium ribbon clean insert it into a flame.
Record the observation.

Has a new substance been formed?

Collect the ash, dissolve it in some water and
examine the nature of the solution with the help
of litmus. What have you understood? Why do
you say that it is a chemical change?
(Watch glass)

Fig. 4.5

Activity 2
Soak two pieces of white cloths of equal size in silver nitrate solution. Enclose
one in a cardboard box without allowing any light to enter it. Place the second
one at a spot where it gets direct sun light. Observe both after some time.
 What change happened in the cloth placed in sunlight?

 What change happened in the cloth placed in darkness?

 What is the role of sunlight in the change of colour?

Activity 3
Take some potassium permanganate crystals in a dry
test tube and show a burning splinter at the mouth of
the test tube. What do you observe?
Then heat the test tube and repeat the experiment.

Fig. 4.6

50
Observation:

 Which gas helped in this?

 How was it formed?
potassium permanganate Æpotassium manganate + manganese
dioxide+ oxygen
 Which is the form of energy that influenced the decomposition of
potassium permanganate?
Activity 4
Have you observed the arrangements in the
figure?
Substances taken for experiment - copper wire,
magnesium ribbon, dilute sulphuric acid.
copper
Try to write the procedure of this experiment. wire

Observation:

Fig. 4.7
Copper and magnesium are metals.
We know that metals react with acids.
What is the energy required for the bulb to glow? How might have it been
formed? From the reactions done, so far we have discovered that new
substances (molecules) are formed in permanent changes. What are the other
features noted in such changes?
List in your science diary, the energy changes associated with each chemical
change.

Activity Forms of energy exchanged

1 Burning of magnesium $
2 $
3 $
4 $
Table 4.1

51
Let’s classify these chemical changes on the basis of the main form of energy
associated with the above changes.

Activity Form of energy Name of the reaction

mainly exchanged

1 Burning of magnesium $ Temperature $Thermo-chemical reaction

2 $ $Photo chemical reaction
3 $ $
4 $ $Electro-chemical reaction
Table 4.2

 Do all thermo-chemical reactions invariably

release heat?
Haven’t you seen lime being made from shells? Does
lime have the same property as the shell? Shell is
calcium carbonate. Look at some of the features of
the gas obtained when the shell is heated.
$ If we pass it through clear lime water, it will Fig. 4.8
turn milky.
$ It is heavier than air.
$ It can extinguish fire.
Which might be this gas? Fill the equation given below.
Calcium carbonate + heat Æ calcium oxide + ………….
 Is the process of continuous heating an indication of absorbing or
releasing heat?
Grind a few pieces of calcium oxide, put them in a test tube and pour
some water. What do you feel when you touch the bottom of the test tube?

Calcium oxide + water Æ calcium hydroxide + heat.

 What is the common name of the new substance found?
 When shells are converted to lime heat is absorbed. But what happens
when lime is converted into slaked lime?

Thermo chemical reactions include exothermic reactions and endothermic

reactions.
What about other activities?

52
 The substances that take part in a chemical reaction are
the reactants and the substances formed as a result of
the reactions are the products.
List the reactants and products in the activities done by you, in your science
diary.
Shall we pass electricity through water?
Remove the insulation from both the
ends of two insulated copper wires of battery

medium lengths. Connect one end of

each to the graphite rods taken from a
discarded battery. Fix the two rods in a
glass beaker with candle wax, as shown
in the figure 4.9. Pour water into the
beaker and add a few drops of an acid.
Place inverted test tubes filled with
water over each graphite rod.

Do it carefully with the help of your

teacher.
Connect the free ends of the wire to a Fig. 4.9
battery.

Our observations.

Shall we examine the gases formed? Take out the two test tubes carefully and
show a burning splinter at their mouths. What can you see?
 What are the gases in each?

 Which was the energy absorbed for the decomposition of water?

Like this there are also other activities in which energy is absorbed or released.
Complete table 4.3 with examples.

53
 Those absorbing heat :
Those releasing heat :

Those absorbing electric energy :

Those releasing electric energy :

Those absorbing light energy :

Those releasing light energy :

Table 4.3
Are there occasions in our daily life where we use the energy changes that
take place during chemical changes?
Look at some situations.

1 :
:
:
2 3 :
:
:

4
Fig. 4.10

Analyse the picture and record in your science diary the main energy changes
happening in each situation.
Can’t you find out more examples?
The Chemistry of Fire Works
The burning of gun powder is a chemical reaction. The
gunpowder mixture is made by mixing potassium
chloride, powdered sulphur and carbon powder.
Potassium nitrate (Nitre) is also used for it. As the
burning of this is a very fast process, a lot of gas is formed
suddenly. As a result explosion and brilliant flames are
produced. In order to increase the brilliance, aluminium
powder is used. The chemicals added with the gun
powder give beautiful colours to the flame. Fig. 4.11

54
Salts of different metals are added for this. Copper salt gives bluish green
colour to the flame, barium salts give light green colour, potassium salts give
lilac colour and sodium salts give yellow colour. Calcium salts are used to
give brick-red colour to the flame.
Collect available salts among these from the school laboratory. Grind each of
them thoroughly, take them in a watch glass and make a paste by adding a
little amount of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Take a little bit of this at the
charred end of a splinter and insert it at the colourless part of a flame. Observe
the colours given by each salt to the flame.

The Boasting of Green Leaf

Only I and my friends can make food

using sunlight, water and carbon
dioxide in air. What would be your
condition if I were not in this world?
You feel proud that you are doing
great things. You boast that world is
at your fingertips. But could you ever
make starch using carbon dioxide,
sunlight and water in a laboratory…?
Look at the boasting of green leaf…?
Had there been no sunlight…?

Encased Electricity
You have seen dry cells used in torches and other electronic equipments. Break
open a dry cell.
What can you see?

55
 Mercury cell Dry cell
This cell is made by filling The dry cell is a zinc
chemicals like mercury, container having a

inner part of the cell

mercuric oxide, carbon mixture of manganese
powder, zinc oxide etc in a dioxide and carbon
steel container having the size powder into which a
of a button. Mercury cell is graphite rod is inserted.
used in watches, calculators, In between the mixture Fig. 4.12
small torches and toys. and the rod, there is a
Because of the paste of ammonium chloride and zinc
presence of the chloride. When the zinc container and
highly poisonous the brass cap of the graphite rod are
mercury, throwing them away connected to a device, using wires,
after use is becoming an electricity produced by the chemical
environmental hazard. reaction in the cell will flow through the
device.
Cells are systems which generate electricity through chemical change.
 Do you know about other cells used in electronic equipments? Write
their names.

 There are cells which can be recharged and reused. Write their names.
$
$

copper plate
zinc plate
You can also make a
battery
Materials needed: two or three potato
potatoes, copper plate, zinc
plate, copper wire and LED.

Arrange the equipments as

in the picture. You may
repeat the experiment using
other available fruits and
vegetables instead of potato.
From which do you get more
electricity? Try to find out
LED
using milli voltmeter.
Fig. 4.13

56
Look at another instance where One gram gold
electro chemical reactions are made covered
use of. ornaments are
available here.

You have noticed such advertisements.

battery
Electricity is made use of to make a thin but
beautiful coating of a small amount of gold on
metals. This process is called electroplating.
Look at the simple arrangement for plating
gold.
a mixture of gold
Haven’t you noticed the way in which the object chloride and
sodium cyanide
to be coated with gold and the gold sheet are solutions.
connected with the battery. gold sheet .
Shall we electroplate copper on an iron nail? Fig. 4.14

We can use copper sulphate dissolved in water, as the solution. Seek the help
of your teacher to make the arrangements. .
Find out other situations in which electroplating is made use of and record it
in your science diary.
Seminar
Shall we conduct a seminar in the class based on the topic ‘Chemical
reactions and the energy changes in them’? You have analysed certain
chemical changes and situations related to daily life. What should be
done to develop them further? Write them in the science diary?
Many of the changes about which we discussed here are beneficial to the
progress of mankind. At the same time aren’t some of them against nature?
Equilibrium of Nature
The very basis of the existence of the life is the states of equilibrium
formed automatically in nature. A lot of changes are happening in
the nature every moment. There are natural (innate) changes among
them as well as those artificially made by man. Nature will easily
adjust itself to natural changes and a certain extent to the artificial
changes and substances made by us. But if the limits are exceeded, the
balance and rhythm will be lost. Even though organic wastes can
decompose, they will create problems on accumulation. Then what
will happen if non degradable substances get accumulated?

57
Concrete covering the soil
Most of the buildings being erected around us are concrete buildings. These
have only a life span of fifty to hundred years. After some years they will
develop leakage, the iron bars get rusted and eventually they will collapse.
Then shouldn’t we dismantle them and build new ones? Do mites eat the
dismantled building parts or do these building parts dissolve in soil? If such
buildings are dismantled on a large scale, what will be the condition of our
soil? Have you started facing such problems around you?
Light emitters that may become harmful
We have listed cells that produce electricity through chemical reactions.
How long are these cells used?

Type of cell Devices that use this cell Approximate

life span of the cell
Dry cell $ Radio $ 3 – 6 months
$ Torch $
$ Clocks $
$ Remote control $
Mercury cell $ Small torches $
$ Watches $
$ Calculators $
Nickel–Cadmium $ Rechargeable torch $
cell ..................................
Lithium ion cell $ Mobile phones $ 6 – 12 months

Table 4.4

When the same type of cell is used for different purposes, the duration for
which the cell lasts may change. E.g.: Small dry cells when used in a camera
lose their charge within a few hours.
 What do you do with such cells after use? Can they be recharged? If
possible, how many times?
 In the houses in your locality, how many of these types of cells are used
in a month?
 Do the chemicals in these cells cause pollution?
The changes we bring about to produce new products and our carelessness in
using them are becoming harmful to us.
What are the situations that you can cite as examples from the scene of a city
given at the beginning of the lesson as well as from your locality? Prepare
and present a note on it.

58
 Molecule, Atom
5
Making smaller …
and smaller....
You are familiar with
situations in which large ice
blocks are broken down into
small pieces. Can you list
other situations in which
objects are broken into Fig 5.1 (b)
different sizes and used?
$
$
Fig 5.1 (a) $

Fig 5.1 (c)

Ice pieces can further be broken into smaller grains. To what extent can
this be continued? If a grain of ice is placed in open, won’t it change into
water and then into water vapour? Are we able to see water vapour?
What may be the reason?
You have realised that objects can be made invisibly small. What can you do
to convince this using sugar and salt? Record it in your science diary. Sugar
and salt are available in different sizes - as big blocks, small grains and
powder. What are the properties retained by them in all these forms?

$ Sugar ...............................................................................................................
$ Salt .............................................................................................................................
Even when salt and sugar are made invisibly small, do they retain their
properties? How did you understand it?
What may be the reason?
Is it not the presence of particles having the properties of sugar that
gives a sugar solution its qualities?
Then, what with salt solution?
 Why does any part of a sugar candy taste sweet? Is it due to the similarity
of tiny particles? Why do salt and sugar candy show different qualities?
Isn't it because of the difference in their tiny particles?
In sugar, we have only the tiny particles of sugar. Hence sugar is a pure
substance.
A molecule is the smallest particle having all the basic
properties of a pure substance. All the molecules of a pure
substance are alike.
Which are the molecules present in sugar solution?
Can you list down substances having different kinds of molecules and
substances having only one kind of molecule?

Same kind of molecule Different kinds of molecules

$ Glucose $ Rice water
$ $
$ $
$ $
Table 5.1
Sugar and salt are pure substances while sugar solution and rice water
are mixtures. Then can you write working definitions for pure substances
and mixtures?

Find out more examples for pure substances and mixtures.

Let's investigate more about mixtures.

How did mixture bought from bakeries get its name? Are the properties
of mixture same throughout it? How can we examine?

Sugar solution is a mixture. Are its properties the same as that of the
mixture in a bakery? What are the differences between them?

Homogeneous mixtures have uniform properties throughout

the mixture. Heterogeneous mixtures have different properties
in different parts. Find more examples for homogeneous and
heterogeneous mixtures and write down.
‘All solutions are homogeneous mixtures.’ Do you agree with this
statement? Explain with reasons.

60
Let’s separate the components
You have understood that there are different kinds of molecules in mixtures.
Can you separate the components of mixtures? Record, in your science diary,
the method of separating salt from salt solution.
Can the salt and the water separated from the salt solution be again divided
into their components?
If it can be done, will they lose their properties?

Those who let the giant free

There was a period when there existed the tendency of
explaining natural phenomena on the basis of certain
principles only. Prominent in those days were the theories
of Aristotle who was one among the ancient philosophers.
These theories were not based on experiments and
observations. Aristotle argued that the basic constituents
of matter are elements like air, soil, water and fire. The
argument that existed in India were that matter is made
up of five elements with the sky included. Can we think
like that today? How was Aristotle’s theory over-thrown?
Experiments and observations conducted by Robert Boyle
(1627 – 1691) and the bold experiments conducted by
scientists like Joseph Priestly (1733 – 1804) and Henry
Cavendish (1731 – 1810) gave us new information about
the composition of matter.

Henry Cavendish proved that water is a substance

composed of more than one constituent. The famous
experiment conducted by him by burning hydrogen gas in
oxygen led the world of science to understand the
constituents of water. This was confirmed by the
experiments done by Humphry Davy in 1806 by passing
electricity through water
What clues does it give about the constituents of a water Henry Cavendish
1731-1810
molecule? Fig. 5.2
Like Humphry Davy, you also have done the experiment to dissociate
water. What were your observations?
What are the constituents of water identified by you?
Conduct more experiments to learn about the constituents of a molecule.

61
Activity – 1 To identify the
Take some sugar in a dry test tube. Place presence of water
some anhydrous copper sulphate wrapped
in cotton at the mouth of the test tube. Copper sulphate crystals are
Heat the test tube for some time. Record blue in colour. If we heat it
the observations in the science diary. strongly, it will change into a
What is the substance remaining in the test white powder. This is
tube? Does it have the property of sugar? anhydrous copper sulphate. If
Did you identify the substance that could we add water to it, the colour
have caused the colour change in the will be regained.
copper sulphate wrapped in cotton? What
are its constituents?

Find out the constituents of sugar by analysing the results that you got from
this experiment.
Constituents of sugar.
$
Fig. 5.3
$
$
Activity – 2
Take mercuric oxide in a test tube and heat it
strongly. Show a glowing splinter at the mouth
of the test tube. What do you observe? Which gas
came out of the test tube? What are the shining
drops sticking to the sides of the test tube?
Joseph Priestly
Note down your inferences. 1733-1804
Do the tiny constituents of the molecule have the
same properties as that of the original substance? Joseph Priestly made
oxygen for the first time by
Record the inferences you have arrived at, based heating mercuric oxide.
on your experiments.

The tiny constituents, with which molecules are built, are atoms.
If there is only one kind of atoms in the molecule of the substance,
it is an element. Substances formed by the combination of the atoms
of different elements are compounds. Elements and compounds
are pure substances.

62
More substances and the atoms in them

Substance Atoms contained in a molecule

Carbon dioxide Carbon , Oxygen

Hydrogen chloride Hydrogen, Chlorine
Oxygen Oxygen
Common salt Sodium, Chlorine
Nitrogen Nitrogen
Water ………................................
Hydrogen Hydrogen
Carbon Carbon
Sugar ………................................
Mercuric oxide ……....................................
Table 5.2

Are all molecules alike? Which of them are formed from the same kind
of atoms? Which molecules have different kinds of atoms in them?
Classify the substances in table 5.2 into elements and compounds.

Elements Compounds
$ $
$ $
$ $
Table 5.3
Expand the table as you get more information and write it in your science
diary. The table 5.4 given below shows details of all the elements discovered
so far. Analyse the table and find out the following.

How many elements are there in total?

Which are the elements more familiar to you?
Which elements have you seen directly?
Which elements are more useful to us in our daily life?
Many of the elements are in solid state. Which elements are found in
liquid state and gaseous state?

63
64
1 2
H He
Hydrogen Periodic Table of Helium

3 4
Elements 5 6 7 8 9 10
Li Be B C N O F Ne
Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
Key Atomic Number
Symbol
11 12
gas Name 13 14 15 16 17 18
liquids Name in English Al Si P S Cl Ar

123
123
123
123
123
123
Na
Sodium
Mg Aluminium Silicon
Magnesium artifical elements Name in Latin/Greek Phosphorus Sulphur Chlorine Argon
(Natrium)

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 32 33 34 35 36
31
K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton
(Kalium) (Ferrum) (Cuprum)

12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678

37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
47
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybde- Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Cadmium Indium Antimony (Stibium) Tellurium Iodine Xenon
Tin
num Silver (Argentum)
(Stanum)
55 56 57 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Cs Ba La Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
Caesium Barium Lanthanum Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon
Gold Mercury
(Wolfrum) (Aurum) (Hydrarygyrum) (Plumbum)

12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
12345678

87 88 89 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 118
Fr Ra Ac Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uuo
Francium Radium Actinium Rutherfordium Dubnium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Ununbium Ununtrium Ununpentium Ununhesium Ununoctium
Seaborgium Ununquddium

12345678
1234567812345678
12345678
12345678
12345678
1234567812345678
12345678
12345678
58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 71 71
Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Cerium Praseody- Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium
mium

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium

Table 5.4
What information have you collected about elements so far?
Prepare a note including all these, and write it in your science diary

Illustrations of the molecules of some substances are given in the box.

A B C D

Table 5.4

Analyse the figure and find out which among them is an element, a
compound and a mixture. Are there any differences between the
mixtures found out? Which mixture contains only elements?

Abbreviations in Chemistry too

What ways do we adopt to indicate
something quite easily? We use
abbreviations instead of writing the
full name of our school. Like this
don’t we use many abbreviations
for day to day communications?
List down the situations you are
familiar with.
$
$
$
$

Let’s look at the possibilities of using abbreviations in the study of chemistry.

Like this, why can't we use symbols and abbrevations to understand elements
easily?

65
 Name of elements symbols
(abbreviations)

Hydrogen H
Helium He
Aluminium Al
Carbon C
Calcium Ca
Oxygen O
Nitrogen N
Neon Ne
Chlorine Cl
Phosphorus P
Curium Cm
Roentgenium Rg
Table 5.5
Examine the table and prepare a note regarding the basis of forming a symbol.
Clues
$ The relationship of names of elements with their symbols.
$ The reason for using two letters in a symbol, the method adopted for
writing symbols and the features of the letters used.
See how the symbols of some other elements have been formed. Can you find
the basis of forming these symbols?

Name Latin name Symbol The basis of accepting these

symbols
Sodium Natrium Na
Potassium Kalium K
Gold Aurum Au
Silver Argentum Ag
Iron Ferrum Fe
Copper Cuprum Cu
Mercury Hydrargyrum Hg

Table 5.6
Haven’t you listed the elements known to you earlier? Find out their symbols
and expand the table.
66
$ Symbols are the abbreviations of names of elements.
$ A symbol indicates an atom of an element.
If we write ‘H’, it is the symbol of hydrogen and at the same time it
indicates an atom of hydrogen. Based on this do the following activities.
12H, 3C and 5Al. What does each of these indicate?
How can you write the abbreviated form for five sodium atoms, two
phosphorus atoms and fifteen nitrogen atoms?
(Use the periodic table to find out the names and symbols).
The symbols we use now in the study of chemistry were developed by
the scientist, Berselius.

Berselius
Born on August 20, 1779 at Linkoping in Sweden, his
father and mother died before he attained the age of
ten. He earned M.D (Doctor of Medicine) degree at
the age of twenty three. His ‘Text Book of Chemistry
- Part I’ was published in 1808 and Part II was
published in 1812. It was the most authentic text of
those times and was translated into five European Fig. 5.5
languages.
He discovered the elements selenium, thorium, cerium and silicon.
The king of Sweden honoured him with the title of ‘Baron’.

In what ways did this method introduced by Berselius help in the study
of chemistry?
Isn’t it interesting to know the ways in which the elements got their name?
Which are the elements that are given the names of scientists? Write the
names of those elements and their symbols.

The scientists are honoured by giving their names to elements, in recognition

of their contributions to science.
Though a lot of contributions are to his credit, the name of Berselius was
perhaps forgotten here.
Collect information about the lives and scientific achievements of these
scientists.
Why don't we publish this in our school science magazine?
Find out the names of elements associated with countries, regions and planets
and make a list of them with their symbols.

67
 6 STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM

Smaller than the smallest

We have already gone into the variety and minuteness of substances. What
all things have you understood? Have you ever thought of this world of
minute particles which are beyond your sight? Don’t their colour, shape, size,
movement and nature arouse wonder in you? Shall we make a journey into
the interiors of this micro world?
Before doing that, recollect what you
have understood so far. molecu
le atom
Can you arrange the items in the boxes
in the descending order of their size?
articles substances
small p

substances ?
Is atom divisible? Dalton’s theory says 'no'.

John Dalton
Even before centuries, visionaries predicted that
substances were made of small particles. philosophers
like Kanadan ( India), Democretes (Greece) and others
believed in atomic theory. Investigation into the
structure of matter led them to the atomic theory. The
propounder of atomic theory in modern period is John
Dalton (1807). The following are the postulates of
Dalton on an atom.
(1776 - 1884)
Fig. 6.1
$ All matter is made up of small particles called atoms.
$ Atom is the smallest particle which can engage in a chemical reaction.
$ All the atoms of an element have the same properties. That is, they
have the same mass, size and character.
$ Atoms of different elements have different characteristics.
$ Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed.
$ Atoms are indivisible.

68
The word ‘atom’ originated from the Latin word ‘atomos’ which means “that
which cannot be divided”. But certain accidental discoveries in the world of
science changed Dalton’s concept that atom is ‘indivisible’.
Into an atom
Have you worn silk or polyester clothes immediately after ironing them?
What have you experienced? What did you feel when you placed your hand
near the TV screen immediately after switching it off?
Rub a plastic scale on dry hair and bring it near tiny bits of paper.
What do you observe?
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
This happens because electric charge is produced when substances are rubbed
against each other.
A scientist named Michael Nature of electric charge
Faraday dissolved some
substances like sodium chloride in
water and passed electricity When a body is charged, it attracts
through it. He realised from his other chargeless bodies. Charges are
observation that there is electric of two kinds: positive (+ve) and
charge in the substances negative (-ve). Like charges repel and
dissolved. He made this finding in unlike charges attract.
1830s. Have you ever thought
why substances have electric
charge like this?
Michael Faraday’s experiment was a beginning in this line. This paved the
way for a detailed study of the characteristic features of these substances. A
large number of scientists have given laudable contributions in this field. Neils
Bohr, through his atom model, presented a simple and scientific explanation
of the structure of atom, so as to describe the properties of substances.
This gained wide spread recognition in those days.
Look at the Bohr model of Lithium atom.

The figure is indicative of the structure of

Lithium atom. Aren’t there clear hints in this
figure that there are minute particles within an
atom? Can you guess from the figure, how many +
+
types+of particles are there in an atom? +
...........................................................................................................................
Let’s look into the history of science that led to
the finding that in an atom there are particles
smaller than it.
It is from the experiments done by passing Fig. 6.2
electricity through gases at low pressure in an

69
instrument called discharge tube that the world of science was led to the
secrets of charge. The experiments conducted by Sir J.J.Thompson after
making certain changes in the discharge tube, revealed some clear pictures
of it.

vacuum pump
-- +

-- +
high voltage
Discharge Tube
Fig. 6.3
Thompson noticed that when electricity was passed through
the gas in the discharge tube at a low pressure, the glass
walls of the tube at the side of the positive plate were
glowing. He found out that some particles formed inside
the tube caused this glow.

When an opaque object was placed as a hindrance, its J.J.Thompson

(1856 - 1940)
shadow was formed at the positive plate. Fig. 6.4
« From this observation, what inference can you draw on the path and
direction of travel of these particles?

$ Plates with positive and negative charge were arranged in the path of
particles coming from the tube, as shown in the figure.

tin sheet +

-- +
--

Fig. 6.5

Observation: The path of particles causing the glow was found to have
deviated towards the plate with positive charge.
« The glow was attracted towards the positive plate. What inference can
you draw on the charge of the particles from this?

70
$ Though metal plates, gases and discharge tubes used were changed
repeatedly, no changes in the nature of particles were observed.

« What might be the reason for getting the same result when the
experiment was repeated by changing the objects used?

The inferences arrived by Sir J.J.Thompson

$ The cause of the glow is the invisible rays emitted from the negative
metal plate of the discharge tube.
$ It is a flow of particles with negative charge.
$ There are particles carrying negative charge in all substances.

These particles which had negligible mass were given the

name “electron”. The mass of an electron is 1/1837 of the
mass of the smallest atom - hydrogen.

Thus the world of science in 1897 recognised that atoms are made up of minute
particles and that atoms are divisible.

Protons as part of atoms

If there are only electrons in atoms, won’t all substances become negatively
charged and repel mutually?
Do substances around us repel in this manner? The investigations which took
place subsequently were related to this.
The scientist Goldstein conducted another experiment using
discharge tube and identified the presence of positively
charged particles in the atom.
Later Ernest Rutherford, through his experiments, confirmed
the presence of protons - the positive particles in an atom. A
proton has almost as much mass as a hydrogen atom.
He discovered that its charge is equal and opposite to that Ernest Rutherford
of an electron. (1871 - 1937)

Fig. 6.6
Why is it that the atoms and the substances formed by
combining them don’t have charge?

71
Gold foil experiment
Gold has some specialities that make it different
gold atom
from other metals. Gold is a metal which can be

alpha particles
made into very thin foil. We can make gold foils
which have only the thickness of a few atoms.
Rutherford conducted the experiment by
allowing high speed alpha particles to hit a very
thin gold foil. Most of the alpha particles passed
through it. The paths of some particles were seen
to have slightly deviated. Some rare ones (about
one in 20,000) came back in the opposite direction
as if they hit at something. Rutherford found out
these things by analysing the impressions made Deviation of alpha particles
through gold foil
by alpha particles on a screen placed behind the Fig. 6.7
gold foil. He arrived at some inferences from
these observations.
$ Atom has a central part. He called it Alpha particles
nucleus. Alpha particles (α particles)
$ Nucleus has positive charge. are particles having positive
charge and mass. They are
$ Compared with the total volume of an
repelled by positive charge
atom, the volume of the nucleus is very
and are attracted by negative
meager.
charge.
$ The mass of an atom is concentrated in
the nucleus.
$ Electrons are distributed in the space around the nucleus.

Examine the results of the experiment and inferences of Rutherford.

« Why did majority of the alpha particles pass through the gold foil?
« Why did the path of only some alpha particles deviate?
« What may be the reasons for the return of an extremely smaller number
of alpha particles?

What inferences of Rutherford will help you to answer these questions?

« Do you agree with the idea that ‘All protons are concentrated in a
particular part in an atom?’ Note down your opinion in the science diary.

72
The Model of an Atom
Rutherford presented an atom model based on his inferences.
The central part of an atom is its nucleus. The nucleus is very small in size
and it has positive charge. Negatively charged electrons revolve around
nucleus at high speed. Almost whole of the mass of an atom is concentrated
in the nucleus.

The structure of the atom presented by Rutherford is similar to that of the

solar system.
l Analyse and fill up the table
l
nucleus
ll
l
l l
l +
+
l l +
\yq¢n-bkv electron

Universe The atom model of Rutherford

Fig. 6.8 Fig. 6.9

Universe Atom
Centre : Sun Centre : ...............
Planets : Revolve around the sun Electron : ...............
Orbit : Path through which planets move Orbit : ...............

Table 6.1

Though Rutherford suggested the model of the atom, he faced difficulty in

explaining the difference in the total mass of the protons and the total mass
of the atom. He couldn’t state precisely the reason for this. But in the 1920s
itself Rutherford had predicted the presence of a neutral particle having mass
inside the nucleus.
As a result of the many studies that followed, James Chadwick in 1932 found
out that apart from electron and proton, there is also a chargeless particle
named neutron in an atom. Its mass is almost equal to the mass of a proton.

Consolidate and complete the table.

Particles in an atom Electric charge Mass Location in the atom

Electron
Proton
Neutron

Table 6.2

73
Bohr model
Unlike in the solar system, electrons in the Rutherford model revolve
around a charged nucleus. James Clark Maxwell postulates that when one
charge revolves around another charge, it will lose energy and ultimately
will come closer to the nucleus. When this posed a challenge for the stability
of the atom, there arose the need for a better model of an atom.
Neils Bohr established that when electron revolves through certain
definite paths around the nucleus, it doesn’t suffer energy change. He called
these paths orbits. He understood that a definite number of electrons are
included in each orbit.
Each of the orbits is a specific energy level. The energy of electrons in a
particular orbit doesn’t change. The energy of orbits increases with increase
in its distance from the nucleus.
In the Bohr model of the atom, energy levels 1,2,3,4 and 5 are
represented by the letters K,L,M,N and O respectively. Later, these energy
levels were known as ‘shells’.

Look at the Bohr model of some atoms.

3p
2p 4n
1p 2n

Hydrogen Helium Lithium

4p 5p 6p
5n 6n 6n

Berillium Boron Carbon

Hints
- -˛ electron
p - proton
n - neutron

Fig. 6.10

74
Examine the number of protons in each atom.
« Do any two elements have the same number of protons?
Do the elements differ when the number of protons changes?
« Are there elements which have equal number of neutrons?
Which are the particles that decide an element- protons or neutrons ?

The number of protons in an atom is the

atomic number (z) of the element.

« What is the relationship between the number of protons and the number
of electrons in an atom? Analyse the Bohr model and find it out.
« What is the relationship between atomic number, the number of protons
and the number of electrons? Write down.
« Which are the particles that mainly decide the mass of an element?

« Where are they located in the atom?

The total number of particles in the nucleus is known as mass

number (M). Mass number is the total number of protons and
neutrons.
Look at the abbreviations of the elements referred to above.
1 4 7 9 11 12
H,
1 2 He, 3 Li, 4 Be, 5 B, 6 C
What do each numbers written above and below the symbols stand for?
Write the hints in the symbol of berillium given below.
(...................................) 9
(...................................) 4 Be
Look at the symbol of fluorine. 19 Z = ..................
F
19 9 M = .................
9 F
« How many protons are there in a fluorine atom?
« What is the number of electrons?
« Can you find out the number of neutrons by relating the mass number
and the atomic number?
Form an equation to find out the number of neutrons.
The number of neutrons = _______________________

75
Electrons in Shells
How many electrons are there in a hydrogen atom? In which shell are they
located? Can you analyse the Bohr model? What about helium atom?
« How are electrons arranged in lithium?
1st shell (K) ___________________ electrons
2nd shell (L)____________________electrons

Since more than two electrons cannot be accommodated in K shell, the

next electron is arranged in the L shell.

The Bohr model of sodium is given in the picture.

« How many electrons are there in sodium atom?
.................... 11p
« How many in K shell? ................... 12n

« What is the remaining number of electrons? ............

Examine the figure.
What guess can you make about the maximum number Model of Sodium atom
of electrons that can be accommodated in the L shell? Fig. 6.11
............................................................................................................................................................................................
There is a limit to the maximum number of electrons that a shell can contain.
This can be found out using the formula 2n2. ‘n’ indicates the shell number.

Write in the table, the maximum number of electrons that can be included in
each shell, based on the formula.

Shell Shell number The maximum number of

electrons to be accommodated(2 n2)
K 1 2 x 12 = 2
L 2
M 3
N 4
O 5

Table 6.3

The arrangement of electrons in the shells around the

nucleus is called electronic configuration.

76
« Write the electronic configuration of the elements given below and draw
their Bohr model.
19 24 27 35
9 F, 12 Mg, 13 Al, 17 Cl
The number of protons decides an element. If the number of protons changes,
the element itself will change. What if the number of neutrons changes without
a change in the number of protons?
1 2 3
1 H 1 H 1 H
p p p
n n n
Protium Deuterium Tritium

« Which particle's number differs?

Draw the Bohr Model.

« What similarities and differences

do you notice if you examine their The Plenitude of
atomic number and mass number?
Hydrogen
Three fourth (75%) of the entire
matter of the universe is
Such different forms of the same element hydrogen. Deuterium isotope
are isotopes. is only 0.015% of the total
Can you formulate a working definition amount of hydrogen. The
for isotopes? amount of tritium is much less
than this. It is found only in
traces The rest is the ordinary
form of hydrogen (99.985%).
Heavy water formed by the
reaction of deuterium with
Elements having the same mass number oxygen is used in nuclear
and different atomic numbers are reactors.
isobars.
Eg: 40
18 Ar,
40
20 Ca

Identify and write the isotopes and isobars in the atoms of the elements given
below. (P,Q,R,S, and T are not symbols of real elements.)
14 35 14 36 16
6 P, 17 Q, 7 R, 17 S, 8 T

77
Examine the details given in the table below and fill in the blanks.
The number of electrons
Element p e n in each shell The configuration of
K L M electrons

16
8 O ........ ........ ........ 2 6 2, 6

27
13 A1 ........ ........ ........ ........ ........ ........ ......................

.....
..... Ne ........ ........ 10 ........ ........ ........ ......................

23
11 Na ........ 11 ........ ........ ........ ........ ......................

.....
..... Mg ........ ........ 12 ........ ........ 2 ......................

Table 6.4

We have in this world a variety of elements because the number and

arrangement of the small particles in their atoms differ. These particles are
too small to be felt or seen directly. The variety in the atoms of the elements
contribute to the variety of the substances in the universe. The knowledge of
the basic constituents of substances will help us to analyse and understand
the characteristic features of a substance.

78
 7 FOR STABILITY
10P
10N

Elements combine together to form compounds.

All objects around us contain these elements and
compounds and the mixtures formed by them.
Only very few elements don’t combine with
others. The elements in the last column of the
periodic table are of this type. Which are they?
Write them.

Fig. 7.1

Since these elements have maximum stability, they are known as noble
elements. Since all of them are gases, they are also known as noble gases.
While atoms of other elements form molecules of that element or molecules
of a compound to attain stability, the noble elements are stable in their atomic
state itself. It is due to this stability that they refrain from entering into chemical
reactions. So they are also known as inert gases.

Why did noble elements become stable? Let’s examine.

Find out the atomic number of a few elements you know and write their
electronic configuration in the table. Also write a few compounds you know
that includes these elements.

Stability and Energy

The stability of a system is related to its energy.
When energy increases, stability decreases.
Hence each system tries to attain stability by
reducing its energy. It will adopt the most
suitable means for this. An object at a great
height tends to come down to lower heights to
attain stability by reducing energy.
Fig.7.2
 Element Atomic number Electronic Compounds
configuration you know

Table 7.1
The electronic configuration of noble elements is given in the table.
Element Atomic number Electronic
configuration
He 2 2
Generally
Ne 10 2, 8
don’t form
Ar 18 2, 8, 8 compounds
Kr 36 2, 8, 18, 8
Xe 54 2, 8, 18, 18, 8
Rn 86 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8
Table 7.2
 What speciality of the electronic configuration of these elements (except
helium) differs from that of other elements?

 What inference can be drawn about the connection between stability

and electronic configuration?

 What about helium? Draw its Bohr model of atom and examine. How
can you describe stability of helium?
Helium, which has the smallest atom among inert elements, has only one
shell. The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in the
first shell is two. Hence, two-electron arrangement is stable in the case of
helium.
Let’s look at some examples of how stable compounds are formed due to
chemical reaction.
Magnesium + Oxygen Æ Magnesium oxide

80
 Has a new substance been formed?
 What may it be?
Examine certain facts related to the atomic numbers of magnesium and oxygen.
Facts Magnesium Oxygen
Number of protons
Number of electrons
Number of neutrons
Charge
Electronic configuration
Table 7.3
 Both magnesium atom and oxygen atom are chargeless. What is the
reason? Compare the Bohr model of both atoms with the table.
2+ 2---
z z z
z z z z z z
z z z z

zz z
12 p
12 n z zz + z
8p
8n
z
→ zz
12 p
12 n zz z
8p
8n
z

z z z z z z z z z z
z z z
Magnesium Oxygen
Fig. 7.3 Magnesium oxide
 In what way did magnesium and oxygen attain stability? Write it on the
basis of the changes taken place in the arrangement of electrons.
Magnesium (Mg)
Oxygen (O)
Was there any change in the charge of magnesium when it attained stability?
What about oxygen? Complete the table and verify.

Magnesium Oxygen
Before attaining After attaining Before attaining After attaining
stability stability stability stability
Number
of electrons
Number
of protons
Charge

An atom which has attained charge is an ion. Table 7.4

What is the charge of magnesium ion? How will you represent it? Mg2+
Write how you can represnt oxide ion.

81
What is likely to happen when opposite charges approach? Tick the correct
option (9).
Attraction
Repulsion
Neither attraction nor repulsion
Have you understood how magnesium oxide exists as a molecule?

Using the knowledge gained so far, prepare a note in the science diary on
how magnesium combines with oxygen to form magnesium oxide.

Like this, how can you describe the formation of sodium chloride?

Element Atomic number Electronic configuration

Sodium (Na)
Chlorine(Cl)

Table 7.5
The ions formed : ...............................................................
The electronic configuration of ions : ...............................................................
 Does all chemical reactions happen in this manner?
 Are there situations in which molecules are formed without exchange
of electrons?
Look at certain situations.
$ Two chlorine atoms combine to form a chlorine molecule.
$ Two oxygen atoms combine to form an oxygen molecule.
Examine the formation of chlorine molecule.
 Electronic configuration of each chlorine atom : ………………..
 What do the two chlorine atoms require to attain stability?
 Is there a possibility of one chlorine atom giving electron to the other?
If so, can both of them attain stability?
z z z z z z z z z z
z z z z z z
z z z z
zz z z zz z z z z
+ z zz
17 p 17 p
18 n zz 18 n zz 17 p
18 n zz zz
17 p
18 n z z
z
z z
zz z
z zz z
z z z z z
z z
z
z z z
z z z z
Chlorine atom Chlorine atom Chlorine molecule
Fig. 7.4
 How did chlorine attain stability?
 How many electrons did each chlorine atom share? Thus the eight-electron
(Octet) arrangement is also formed by sharing electrons in this manner.
82
 Look at the arrangement in the oxygen molecule.
z z z z z z z z
z z z
z z
z
8p
8n
z
+ z
8p
8n
z 8p
8n
z
z
z
8p
8n

z z z z z z
z z z z
z z
Oxygen atom Oxygen atom Oxygen molecule
Fig. 7.5
 How many electrons did each oxygen atom share?
 How many electrons are either exchanged or shared by oxygen atom in
the following molecules?
In magnesium oxide : exchanged/shared
In oxygen molecule : exchanged/shared

The capacity of elements to combine together is called

valency. The valency of an element is stated on the basis of
the number of electrons exchanged or shared by an element
during chemical reaction.

Examine some elements.

Write the electronic configuration of each and complete the table.
→
The number

The number of
of electrons
in the outer

The
most shell
Number
Atomic
Element

number of E l e c t r o n i c electrons given Valency

electrons Configuration /taken or
shared

K
O
Na
Table 7.6
Frame a statement connecting outermost electron(s) and valency.

 How many electrons did magnesium lose when magnesium oxide was
formed?
 How many electrons are gained by oxygen atom?
 What is the relationship between the number of electrons and the charge
formed in each atom when magnesium oxide was formed?

83
 How many electrons must magnesium lose for it to combine with
chlorine?
 How many electrons can a chlorine atom gain?
 If so, how many chlorine atoms should a magnesium atom combine with,
in order to attain stability?
 You have understood that abbreviations are used as symbols of elements.
Then how can we write the abbreviations of molecules, which are formed
by the combination of atoms of elements?
 How can you represent magnesium chloride formed from magnesium
and chlorine?
Try to write abbreviations of molecules using the symbol of elements and the
number of atoms that combine.
Magnesium chloride
 Which all atoms in the above table
can involve in exchange of Chemical Formula
electrons? Chemical formula is an
How many atoms of each element will be abbreviation representing the
involved when this happens? molecule of an element or a
Na and O, K and F compound. The number and kind
of the atoms of elements can be
understood from the chemical
formula. The symbol and number
 Can you write the chemical formula of atoms of each element will be
of the following? indicated in the chemical formula.
The combined form of Na and O?
The number of electrons which Na can give ………………
The number of electrons which oxygen can accept ……
 The number of atoms of each that should combine to attain stability.
Na : ............................................................
O : ............................................................
Chemical formula : ............................................................

 Can you form more pairs like this? Look at the chemical formula of some
compounds
Water - H2O
Hydrogen Chloride - HCl
Ammonia – NH3

Let’s examine how the valency of elements is made use of to write the chemical
formula.

84
 Compound Elements contained Valency Chemical formula
H
Water
O
Hydrogen H
chloride Cl
N 3
Ammonia
H
Table 7.7
The method of forming the chemical formula.

Look at the chemical formula given below.

Magnesium oxide – MgO
Carbon dioxide – CO2
Valency of Magnesium – 2
Valency of Oxygen – 2

The chemical formula formed in relation to valency

Actual chemical formula

If the valency number can be simplified into small units, they

are indicated in the chemical formula in the simplified form.

Now think how CO2 has become the chemical formula of carbon dioxide.
The valency of carbon – 4
The valency of oxygen – 2
Same pairs of elements are given below. Write the chemical formula of the
compounds formed by them.

Al - O, Ca - O, C - H, Ca - Cl
We are now familiar with the chemical formula of certain molecules.
Can you find out the total number of atoms in these molecules?
 What is the total number of atoms in CO2 molecule?
Number of carbon atoms : ..................................................
Number of oxygen atoms : ..................................................
Total number of atoms : ..................................................

85
Based on the number of atoms in a molecule, they are classified as mono atomic,
diatomic and poly atomic. Molecules of some elements are given below.
Classify them in the manner described above.
C l 2, N a , O 2, M g , S 8, P 4, H 2, N 2, Fe

 All inert gases are mono atomic. Can you say why? The chemical formula
indicates one molecule of an element or a compound.
But what can be done in situations where more number of molecules are to be
indicated?
Look at the way in which five water molecules are indicated: 5H2O
Total number of molecules: …….
How many atoms of each element: ……
H = 5 x 2 = 10
O=
 Which of the following has the highest number of atoms? Find out.

5NH 3, 6NaCl, 2MgO, 3Al 2O 3

86
 8 THE PATH OF LIGHT

The Light that Reflects

An afternoon. When light fell on her face, Khadeeja looked around to see
where it came from. She saw her friend holding a mirror outside the class.
Where could the light that fell on Khadeeja’s face have come from? How did
it come?
Don’t you have similar
experiences?
Have you reflected light
onto the face of your
friends or on the wall
using a plane mirror?
Shall we do an activity
using a source of light?
Take a cardboard box
which is about 30 cm long,
12cm broad and 6cm high.
Remove the opposite sides of the box and paste transparent polythene sheet
there, as shown in the figure 8.1.
Place a plane mirror inside the box as shown.
Light an incense stick and fill the box with its smoke.
Allow light from a laser torch to fall
slantingly onto the mirror through the
hole on top of the box. Light from the torch comes as a
Observe the path of light. beam which contains a large
number of very narrow light
rays. Light passes as a beam even
torch
through a small hole. Though
light comes like this, the path of
light is represented using a line
which indicates one ray.

plane mirror
Fig. 8.1
 What can you call the ray of light which falls from the torch onto the mirror?
 What can you call the ray of light which reflects from the mirror?
 Repeat the experiment by changing the inclination of the ray of light.
What are your observations?

87
The line drawn perpendicular to the surface of reflection at the point where
the light falls (point of incidence) is the normal.
 Is there any relation between the angles formed by the incident ray and
the reflected ray with the normal?
Let’s do an experiment.
Arrange a drawing sheet,
protractor, plane mirror and a
screen as shown in the figure.
Draw the normal and mark the
angles of the protractor on the
paper.
Make the laser ray fall on the
mirror from different angles along
the plane of the paper. Draw the
path of the reflected ray on each
occasion, measure the angle of
incidence and the angle of
reflection and tabulate. Fig. 8.2

Sl. Angle of incidence (i) Angle of reflection (r)

No.
1
2
3
4
Table 8.1

 What inference can you draw from analysing the table?

 If you can change the plane of the ray of incidence, can we get the
reflected ray in the same plane?
 What all inferences about reflection could you draw from the activities
done so far?
$
$ The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal to the plane of reflection
drawn are in the same plane.
These are the laws of reflection.
These laws are applicable to any type of reflecting surface.

88
Different types of Mirrors
Have you seen your face in the mirror
of a bike? What is special about the The surface of reflection of
image? light can also be a curved
Is the mirror plane? one.
Look at your face in a new stainless
steel spoon. If the reflecting surface of the
 Are the images seen on the inner mirror curves outward, it is a
side and the outer side alike? convex mirror. If it curves
inward, it is a concave mirror.
 Which image is similar to the
image seen in the mirror of the
bike?
 What may be the reason for seeing the image differently on both sides of
the spoon?
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
Let’s do an activity.
Classify the mirrors in your school lab into plane, convex and concave mirrors.
Find out their features and complete the table 8.2

Sl. No. Plane mirror Convex mirror Concave mirror

Table 8.2
Spherical Mirrors

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 8.3
Cut a small portion of a plastic ball as shown in figure 8.3 (a). If we paste
aluminum foil in its inner side and form a surface of reflection, what type of
mirror will it be?
89
What if we make the outerside The centre of the sphere of which the mirror
a reflecting surface? is a part is the centre of curvature of the
Such mirrors are spherical mirror and is denoted as C.
mirrors The midpoint of the surface of reflection is
In figures 8.3 (b) and (c) mark the pole and is denoted as P.
the centre of curvature ‘C’, pole The line joining the centre of curvature C
‘P’, and draw the principal and the pole P is the principal axis. The
axis and radius of curvature. radius of the sphere of which the mirror is
a part is the radius of curvature.

Focus
Hold a concave mirror towards the sun (figure 8.4). Focus the sunlight at a
point on the screen. Repeat the experiment several times. Measure the distance
between the mirror and the screen every time. What special feature do you
notice? Form images of very distant objects. Measure the distance between
the image and the mirror. Compare it with the distance found earlier. Repeat
the experiment using plane mirror.

In the experiment using sunlight and

mirror, care must be taken to avoid
reflected rays falling directly in the eyes.

Fig. 8.4
 How do we get the images of distant objects always at a fixed distance
from the mirror? Look at the images given below.

C F P

(a) Fig. 8.5 (b)

90
The figure shows light rays from distant sources incident on a plane mirror
and a concave mirror.
 What special features can you notice?
$ The incident rays are parallel.
$
We have seen that light rays falling parallel to the principle axis of a concave
mirror converge at a point on the principal axis. This point is the principal
focus of the concave mirror.
 Then why do we get the images of distant objects at the same point?
 Can a plane mirror have a focus?

Based on the figure 8.5, record your findings in the science diary.
 In the above activity can we get an image on the screen, if we use a
convex mirror instead of a concave mirror?
What may be the reason?

Based on the figure 8.6 and the laws of reflection, record your findings.
Don’t the reflected rays in the figure appear to diverge from a point on the
principal axis, behind the mirror? This point is the principal focus of the
convex mirror. Since this is not real, this is a virtual focus.

P F C

Fig. 8.6

The distance from pole to focus is the focal length. This

will be equal to half the radius of curvature(R), or R=2f

Image Formation
Haven’t you seen that the images of distant objects are always formed at the
principal focus of the spherical mirror? Is the image always formed on the
principal focus, if the object is placed anywhere in front of the mirror?
Let's do an activity and find out.

91
 Fix a concave mirror of known focal length on a stand. Mark F, 2F (C) in
front of the mirror. Place a lighted candle at different positions in front of the
mirror and form images on the screen. Record the position of the image and
its features in the table (8.3).

Fig. 8.7

With respect to the mirror

Sl. The position of The position of Features of
No. the object the image the image
1
2
3
4
5
Table 8.3

Let’s draw a ray diagram

Haven’t you understood the formation of image of an object placed at different
positions in front of a concave mirror?
We can indicate the formation of image by means of ray diagrams.
The incident ray falling on the concave mirror and its reflected ray are given
in figure 8.8

L M

C F P C F P

N M
N

Fig. 8.8 (a) Fig. 8.8 (b)

92
 L
L
N
i M
C F P C r F P

M N

Fig. 8.8 (c) Fig. 8.8 (d)

Any ray drawn from the centre of a sphere to

its surface will be perpendicular to the surface
of the sphere.

Analyse the figures on the basis of laws of reflection and record your findings.
$ The ray of light falling on the mirror parallel to the principal axis, passes
through principal focus after reflection.
$
$
$

Based on your findings, draw the ray diagrams of the image formation in
your science diary for the positions of the object given in table 8.4. Use any
two rays mentioned above. Then complete the table 8.4. Compare the tables
8.3 and 8.4
(a) The object beyond C

I
O C F P
M

Fig. 8.9

Point M is the image of point B. Similarly, if we draw the incident ray and
reflected ray from each point between O and B of the object, the image IM
will be formed.

93
 With respect to the mirror
Sl. The position of The position of The nature of
No. the object the image the image
1. Beyond C
2. At C
3. Between C and F
4. At F
5. Between F and P
Table 8.4

Haven’t you seen the position and features of images formed by the concave
mirror?
Similarly let us draw the ray diagrams of an image formed by a convex mirror.

M
C
O P I F

Fig. 8.10

Observe the figure and list the features of the image.

Haven’t you seen the characteristics of concave and convex mirrors and the
features of the images formed by them?
Find out the occasions in which we use different types of mirrors in day to
day life and write them.
$ In vehicles convex mirrors are used
as rear view mirrors.
$
$
$

94
 9 MOTION

‘35kmph.
What is meant
by this?’

Fig. 9.1

Speed
Given above is a doubt raised by Raju while he was walking along with his
father in town. He had come to town to buy new clothes for Onam.
Can you help Raju clear his doubt?
Examine the situations given below.
« A car travels a distance of 120km in two hours and a van travels 150km
in three hours. How can we find out which of them has greater speed?
« Calculate the distance travelled by each vehicle in one hour.
Have you found out which vehicle has greater speed?
Let’s examine another situation.
« What is the speed of a cycle which travels 50m in 10s?
« Which equation did you use to find out the speed in the situations given
above?

Speed = ......................
......................

Unit of speed = unit of distance

unit of time
« If so what is the unit of speed of the car?
« What is the unit of speed of the cycle?

The basic unit of time is

Speed is the distance travelled by an second(s). Usually one second
object in unit time. is referred to as unit time.

Are you now clear about the meaning of

‘35kmph’ written at the back of the bus?
Discuss with your friends why it is written so.
Are there any such boards erected near your school?
Do vehicles observe the speed limit there? Let’s do a project and find out.
Can you find out vehicles which violate traffic rules?
What can you do against the violation of traffic rules?
Uniform Speed and Non-Uniform Speed
0s 2s 4s 6s 8s 10s

A B C D E F
0m 4m 8m 12m 16m 20m
Fig. 9.2
The distance covered by Hari at different intervals of time is shown in figure 9.2.
« What is the distance covered by Hari from A to B? What is the time
taken for it?
« What is the distance covered from B to C? What is the time taken for it?
Similarly, calculate the distance covered during other intervals and the speed.
What did you understand?
Has Hari covered equal distances in equal periods of time? In this case Hari
travels at a uniform speed.
Observe the figure 9.3.
0s 2s 4s 6s 8s 10s

A B C D E F
0m 4m 10m 18m 30m 50m
Fig. 9.3
Find out the distance covered by Hari and the time taken for it from the figure
and complete the table.

96
 Distance travelled Time Speed
(in metres) (in second) (metre/second)
A →B 4m 2s 2m/s
B →C 6m 2s 3m/s

Table 9.1

Haven’t you seen from the table that Hari has covered unequal distances
during equal intervals of time? In this case Hari travels at a non-uniform
speed.
Average Speed and Average of Speeds
Observe the figure.

0s 2s 4s 8s 15s 18s

A B C D E F
0m 4m 8m 10m 24m 36m
Fig. 9.4
The distance covered by Shanty at different intervals of time is given in the
figure 9.4. Analyse the figure and complete the table.
Time interval Distance covered Time taken Speed = Distance
(in second) (in metre) (in second) Time
4m
0-2 4m 2s = 2m/s
2s
2-4
4-8
8 - 15
15 - 18
Table 9.2
Haven’t you seen that the speed of Shanty in each interval of time is different?
In such situations, we have to mention speed in terms of average speed. We
can calculate the average speed of Shanty by considering the total distance
covered and the total time taken.
Average speed = Total distance travelled = ……………..
Total time taken ……………..
= .............. m/s

97
But if we find the sum of the speeds of Shanty in every interval of time and
divide it by the number of speeds, we get the average of speeds.
sum of the speeds
Average of speeds =
number of speeds
........ + ........ + ........ + ........ + ........
=
........
........
=
........
= .............
Don't you notice that the average speed and the average of speeds are
different?

Displacement
Notice the illustration of the paths from Rani’s home to school.

H
Road - A S
1.5 km

Road - B
2 km N

W E
Fig. 9.5
S

« If Rani goes to school by road A, what distance will she travel? What is
the distance if she travels by road B?
« Draw a line showing the shortest distance from Rani’s home (H) to her
school (S). Indicate the direction too.
« What are the differences between the distance travelled through road A
and road B, and the straight distance from school to home?
« From Rani’s home, in which direction is the school?

98
« Can Rani reach the school if she travels the same straight distance in
any other direction?
The measure of the change of position of an object in a
particular direction is known as displacement.

« If an object travels from one place to

Vector quantities are those
another in a straight line, what will be
which need magnitude as well
the relationship between the distance
as direction to be stated. Scalar
and its displacement?
quantities are those which need
« Is displacement a scalar quantity or a only magnitude.
vector quantity?
In an athletic race, Sajith completed his
running on an elliptical two hundred metre
track in twenty five seconds and returned to the starting point.
« What is the distance travelled by Sajith? What is his average speed?
« What is the displacement of Sajith?
Velocity
The following figure gives information about a car travelling through a straight
path of 500m.

0m 100m 200m 300m 400m 500m

A B C D E F
0 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s
Fig. 9.6

Analyse the motion of the car and complete the table.

The displacement The time required Displacement of

(in metre) (in second) the car (one second)

A→ B 100m ................. .................

A → C ............ ................. .................
A → D ............ ................. .................
A → E ............ ................. .................
A → F ............ ................. .................
Table 9.3

99
$ You would have found out the displacement of the car in one second.
This is the velocity of the car.
Velocity = Displacement
Time
« If so, find out the unit of velocity.
« What are the differences between speed and velocity? Record the
findings in your science diary.
« Find out the situation in which the speed and velocity of an object become
equal.
« Why do we consider velocity as a vector quantity?
Isn’t the velocity the same at each stage in table 9.3. This is uniform
velocity.
« If so, can you define non-uniform velocity?
Calculate the velocity and speed of Sajith who finished running a two hundred
metre elliptical track in 25 seconds and reached the starting point.

Acceleration
Vinu was observing a train arriving at a station and departing after some
time.

The train arriving at the station The train departing from the
railway station.
Fig. 9.7

« What is the change happening in the velocity of a train approaching a

station?
« What about the velocity of the train departing from the station?

The velocity at different times of a train departing in a definite direction is

given in the figure. Analyse this and complete the table.

0 m/s 6 m/s 14 m/s 14 m/s 6 m/s 2 m/s

A B C D E F
0s 10 s 20 s 30 s 40 s 50 s

Fig. 9.8

100
 Initial velocity Final velocity Change in Time taken for Change in velocity
u v velocity change in velocity(t) which took place in
one second/ rate of
v-u change of velocity

6m/s 2
A-B 0 6 m/s 6 m/s 10 s 10s
= 0.6 m / s

B-C

C-D

D-E 14 6 m/s -8 m/s 10 s −8 m / s

10s = ---
E-F
Table 9.4

« What is the change in the velocity of the train from A to B?

« What is the change in velocity in one second (rate of change of velocity)?
The rate of change of velocity is acceleration.
« If so, can you form an equation for finding acceleration?

Acceleration (a) = Change in velocity

Time
= Final velocity - .............................
...........................................................
v−u
a =
t
You would have understood the unit of acceleration from table 9.4
« Does the velocity increase or decrease when the train travels from D to
E in figure 9.8.
« Find out the rate of change of velocity at this stage.
Haven’t you seen that the accelerations from D to E and E to F are negative
since the final velocity is less than the initial velocity?
This negative acceleration is termed retardation. If so, is it to the approaching
or departing train that retardation happens? What may be the reason for
this?

« Brakes are applied suddenly to a racing car travelling at 50m/s. If the

car stops after twenty seconds, calculate the retardation of the car.

You have seen an equation for acceleration, if the initial velocity is ‘u’, the
final velocity is ‘v’ and the time for change in velocity is ‘t’.

101
 Final velocity – initial velocity
Acceleration(a) =
Time
v −u
a=
t
v - u = at
Therefore v = u + at . This is an equation of motion.
« Find out the velocity attained by an object after 10 second if it starts
from the state of rest and travels with an acceleration of 5m/s2.
Sadath travelled on a bicycle in three different situations. The path of travel
and velocity at each stage is given in the figures 9.9(i), (ii) and (iii).

Velocity is a vector quantity. The velocity

becomes non-uniform in three situations.
(i) When the magnitude changes
(ii) When the direction changes without a
change in the magnitude
(iii) When both magnitude and direction
change
Acceleration happens in all the three situations.
5 m/s

5 m/s

5 m/s

5 m/s

5 m/s

5 m/s
0

5 m/s
A B C D E F G
0s 2s 4s 6s 8s 10s 12s D
Travelling in a straight line with a uniform
velocity of 5m/s. 5 m/s C A 5 m/s
(i)
11 m/s

13 m/s

B
5 m/s

7 m/s

9 m/s

5 m/s
0

A B C D E F (ii)
0s 2s 4s 6s 8s 10s
(iii)

Fig. 9.9

« Consider figure 9.9(ii). Does Sadath have acceleration? What may be

the reason?
« Consider figure 9.9(iii). Does Sadath have acceleration? What can be
the reason?
« Which are the cases where Sadath has acceleration?

102
 10 FORCE

(b)
(a)

(c)

N S
(d)

Fig. 10.1 (e)

Have you noticed the figures?

What happened to the objects on each occasion?
(a)
(b)
(c) The mango falls down due to the gravitational force of the Earth.
(d)
(e)
What may be the reason for the change of position of these objects?
If so, what is meant by force? Discuss with your friends and record your
findings in the science diary.
 In the situations indicated in the illustration, which are the objects on
which force is applied by contact?
 On which objects can we see force being applied without contact?
 If so, record the differences between contact force and non-contact force.

Internal Force, External Force

Do objects always move when force is applied?
Vinu was travelling to school in an autorickshaw. Suddenly the vehicle
stopped. The driver asked a
person standing on the road to
push the vehicle and he obliged.
The vehicle moved forward and
it started. Then Vinu had a
doubt. “Won’t the
autorickshaw move forward if
we push it remaining seated
inside the vehicle?”
Record your response to this
doubt of Vinu.
Fig. 10.2

Sit on a chair without letting your legs touch

the floor and try to lift the chair.
 What is your experience?
Try to raise the chair by standing on the floor.
 What happens?
The force applied by you in the first activity
is internal force.
 What about it in the second activity?
 What type of force moves objects?

Now how will you respond to Vinu’s doubt?

Fig. 10.3

104
 Balanced Force, Unbalanced Force

Fig. (b) Two people push a table with

equal force in the opposite direction.
Fig. (a) Two people, standing on the
same side, push a table in the same
direction.

Fig. (c) Two people push a table with

different forces.
Fig. 10.4
Figure 10.4 shows the different ways in which force is applied on a table.
 On which occasions does the table move? Why?
 On which occasion does the table remain stationary? Why?
Let’s do an experiment.
Fix a pulley at both ends of a desk. Tie strings to both ends of a toy car. Pass
the strings over the pulleys and hang pans at both the ends as shown in the
figure. Place equal weights on the pans. Watch the toy car. Does it move?
Then increase the weight in any one of the pans. What happens to the car
now?

Fig. 10.5

105
Compare the two situations and record your observations.
 When is a balanced force experienced?
 When is an unbalanced force experienced?
 What type of force moved the car?
When the car moves in a particular direction, slowly increase the weight in
the pan having less weight. Observe the speed of the car in each stage. What
changes happen? Why?
 When does the car come to a rest?
 When does the car begin to move in the opposite direction?
 What can be the reason?

Examine whether your findings match with the statements given below.
$ Force is required to move an object from a state of rest.
$ Force is required to change the direction of an object moving in a
particular direction.
$ Force is required to increase or decrease the speed of a moving object.
$ To stop an object moving in a particular direction a force is to be applied
in the opposite direction.
Find out from those given below, the situations in which balanced force and
unbalanced force are experienced.
$ Lifts a bucket filled with water from a The unit of force is newton.
well. When we have to support
$ Holds a bucket filled with water above the an object having 100 gram
water level in the well. weight on our palm, the
$ The tug does not move during a tug-of-war force to be applied is about
competition despite both teams pulling 1N.
very strongly.
$ A cycle moves along a floor.
Newton's first law of motion
You know that seat belt is compulsory for those who travel in the front seat of
a car. What could be its scientific aspect?
A person getting down from a moving bus stops only after running for some
time in the direction of the bus.
 Why does he run forward like this?
 What will happen if he doesn’t run like this?
Analyse the questions given below using your findings.
 What should be done to move an object from its state of rest?

106
 In games using balls, what will you do to pass a ball coming towards
you to a friend standing at the sides?
 What will you do to stop a metallic sphere rolling on a ground?
 What will you do to increase the speed of a slowly oscillating swing?

From your findings, form an inference relating force, state of rest, speed of
objects and the direction of movement.

“Any body continues to be in a state of rest or of uniform motion

in a straight line until an unbalanced external force is applied on
it”. This is Newton’s first law of motion.

Fig. 10.6
Inertia
‘If an elephant chases you, you should run zig-zag.’
What is the scientific principle in this suggestion of a guide from the forest
department?
Let’s do an activity.
Arrange a few carom coins one over the other on a smooth surface / on a
carom board.
Strike off the carom coin at the bottom with the striker?
What will happen?
Record your observation in the science diary.
Place a card above a glass and a coin above the card. Strike
off the card suddenly. What happens to the coin?
What may be the reason? Fig. 10.7

107
Have you travelled standing in a bus?
A passenger is standing inside a running bus. The bus stops all of a sudden.
What will happen to him? Why?
What will happen when a stationary bus suddenly moves forward? From
these examples, what inferences can we arrive at?
$ An object in a state of motion has the tendency to continue in that state.
This is inertia of motion.
$
Haven’t you understood what inertia of motion and inertia of rest are?
An object cannot by itself change its state of rest or its uniform
motion in a straight line. This is inertia.

You might have seen some people jumping out of a train before it stops. Is it a
good practice? Don’t such activities often invite serious accidents?
Analyse these situations based on the idea of inertia of motion.
Under the auspices of the Road Safety Club of your school, conduct a seminar
on such accidents and their remedies.
Tabulate other situations in which inertia of motion and inertia of rest are
felt.
Inertia of motion Inertia of rest
$ A fan continues to rotate for $ Mangoes fall when a branch
some more time even after it of the tree is shaken.
is switched off.
$ $
$ $

Mass and Inertia

Roll the metal sphere used in shot
put and a plastic ball of the same
size along a slanting surface. Let
your friend try to stop both the
balls at the same time.

Fig. 10.8

108
 Will the force to be applied to stop the balls be the same?
 Will the force applied to move a table and a stool from a state of rest be
the same?

Find out and record the relationship between the mass and inertia, comparing
the situations given above.
 Making use of your findings can you classify the scientific truth behind
the suggestion given by the guide of the forest department?

Haven’t you seen over crowded vehicles bringing children to school and
taking them back?
 What will happen if such vehicles have to be stopped suddenly?
 Can you give an explanation for the above, based on mass and inertia of
motion?
Organise a programme under the auspices of the Science Club to create
awareness on such accidents in your locality.

109
 11 THRUST AND PRESSURE

Thrust and Pressure

When Deepu was getting ready to play with his friends

after his studies, mother called him and said.
‘Deepu, cut a portion from the washing soap and bring
it here’.
Deepu took a knife and started cutting the soap quickly.
He was in a hurry to leave for his games. But he couldn’t
cut the soap properly. He observed and only then did he
realise his mistake. He was trying to cut the soap with
the blunt edge of the knife.

Have you ever had such experiences?

Record your experiences in the science diary.
$
$
 Why is it easy to cut objects with the sharp end of the knife?
Record your guess in the science diary.
Let’s do an experiment to find out whether your guess is right or not.
Spread lime powder about four inches thick in a tray of average size. Place a
brick in different positions on the lime powder as shown in the illustration.
Observe the depth of the pit made by the brick in the lime powder each time.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 11.1

110
 What is the reason for the formation of the pit in the lime powder when
a brick is placed on it?
 In which direction does the weight of the brick (the force exerted by the
brick) act?
 When the brick was placed in different positions perpendicular to the
surface of the lime powder, was the total force experienced on the lime
powder the same on all occasions?
 Are the surface areas acted upon by the force equal?
 In which position was the brick placed when the deepest pit was formed
in the lime powder?
With smaller surface area of contact / with larger surface area of contact.
 In which position was the brick placed when it made the shallowest pit
in the lime powder?
With smaller surface area of contact / with larger surface area of contact.
 Though equal forces were applied on surfaces of smaller and larger areas,
why did the depths of the pit differ?
Find out the weight of the brick given for the experiment using a spring balance
and complete the table given.
The side kept in The total normal Area of the The force exerted
contact with lime force exerted surface of on unit area of
powder (weight of the brick) contact contact
$ breadth wise
$ length wise

$ height wise

Table 11.1
Which of the following inferences did you arrive at when you analysed the
table?
Find out the correct one and write it in your science diary.
When the same normal force is exerted on surfaces with different areas,
$ the force exerted per unit area on a surface with smaller area will be
more.
$ the force exerted per unit area on a surface with larger area will be
more.
Haven’t you seen that the total normal force acting on a surface and the
normal force acting per unit area are different?
The total normal force acting on a surface is the thrust.
The force acting normally in unit area is the pressure.
Pressure = thrust
area
111
The unit of pressure is newton / square metre (N/m2).
This is also known as Pascal.
There are many situations in real life where we make use of the relationship
between pressure and area. Find out and record them in the science diary.
$ The rear wheels of heavy duty freight vehicles have double tyres.
$
Liquid pressure
Haven’t you noticed the figure? Why do we build dams with greater thickness
at the base?
Let’s try out some experiments.
Remove the bottom of a powder tin. Spread and tie a piece of balloon to
cover the bottom.

Fig. 11.2
Pour water slowly into the tin.
 What happens to the balloon when water is poured?
 What may be the reason?
 Why does the balloon expand at different rates when
there is less water and when there is more water?
 What is the relationship between the depth of water
and the pressure it exerts?
Make three holes on one side of a plastic bottle at various
heights. Close the holes with your finger and fill the bottle
with water. Remove the fingers. Fig. 11.3
 What do you see? What is the reason for water to flow
out through the holes?
 Through which hole does water flow with greater force?

 Through which hole does water flow with lesser force?

Make four holes at equal heights around a plastic bottle / tin. Ask your
friends to close the holes with their fingers and fill the bottle with water. Then
ask your friends to open the holes.

112
 What peculiarity do you observe? What could be the reason?
‘

What inferences could you arrive at from the experiments done?

Record them in your science diary.
$ A liquid exerts pressure on its container.
$
Find out situations where we make use of the knowledge of liquid pressure
and record them in your science diary.
$ Dams are constructed with greater thickness at their base.
$
Haven’t you understood that the pressure experienced at any point in a liquid
depends on the height of the liquid column above that point?
Buoyant Force

Hai, how easy! Oh, how heavy!

(a) (b)
Fig.11.4

 Have you had such experiences as shown in the figure?

 Why are objects felt less heavy when lifted under water?
Let’s try out some experiments.
Try to immerse a tightly closed tin / plastic can slowly into the water in a
bucket.
 What do you feel?
Release the tin after dipping it fully.
 What do you observe?

113
Similarly, release a cork / small rubber ball after immersing it in water.
 What do you observe?
Discuss your findings in the group and record them in your science diary.
 Have you felt water pushing you up while taking a dip in a pond or so?
 Based on your experience, can you explain the reason why an object
immersed in water is felt lighter?

Do all liquids apply a force like this?

Let’s see.

A stone, beaker, kerosene, water, stand, spring

balance etc. are provided. Plan an experiment using
them and complete the table given.

Fig. 11.5

Weight of
Difference in Weight of Difference in
Weight of
stone in the weight of the stone in the weight of
stone in air
water the stone while kerosene the stone while
in water in kerosene

Table 11.2
 Does the stone show loss of weight both in water and kerosene?
Note down your inferences.
The force exerted by a liquid on a body immersed fully or
partially in it is the buoyant force.
You have seen that an object immersed in water will lose weight due to buoyant
force.
 If an object weighing 10N in air weighs 7N in water, what is the buoyant
force acting on it?

114
Archimedes' principle
Have you heard about Archimedes?
Archimedes is a scientist who studied about buoyant force through
experiments.

Archimedes is a Greek scientist who lived from BC 287

to 212. He acquired fame through his numerous
discoveries.
Once, emperor Hero of Siracus entrusted some gold with
a goldsmith in order to make a crown. When the
goldsmith brought the crown, the king became
suspicious that the goldsmith might have pilfered some
gold from the crown and added copper to it. The emperor asked
Archimedes to find out whether there were any impurities in the crown
without damaging it in any way.
Though Archimedes thought for a long time, he couldn’t find a way
out. The main difficulty of Archimedes was to find out the volume of an
object which doesn’t have a regular shape. If he knew the volume, he
could find out the density. One day when he immersed himself in a
bath-tub in his bathroom, he saw that some water overflowed.
Archimedes guessed that the volume of the overflowed water could be
equal to the volume of his body. Thus he got a way to find out the volume
of an object which doesn’t have a regular shape. The story goes that he
forgot the fact that he was in the bathroom and ran through the streets
shouting ‘Eureka, Eureka’ (I have found out, I have found out). Using
the crown given for examination and a cake of pure gold having equal
weight, he found that the crown had impurities.’

 How, in your opinion, did Archimedes find out whether impurities were
added in the crown?
The density of an object is the ratio between its mass and
volume. The density of an object will be a constant.
Density = mass
volume

 Record your findings in your science diary using the given equation.
Apart from this, Archimedes conducted many other experiments.
 A liquid will exert buoyant force on an object immersed in it. Is there
any relationship between this buoyant force and the weight of the liquid
displaced by the object?

115
Let’s try out an experiment.
Determine the weight of a stone in
air and in water using a spring
balance. Calculate the loss of
weight of the stone in water. Then
take water in an overflowing jar to
its fill. Tie a twine around the stone
and immerse the stone in water.
Collect the overflowing water in a
beaker weighed earlier. Again take
the weight of the beaker and the
water in it together. Repeat the
experiment using different objects.
Enter the measurements you have
obtained in the table given.

Fig. 11.6

Weight Weight of Loss of Weight of

Objects Weight of the the beaker weight of water
Weight
used of the object and the displaced
of the object in
object in water by the
beaker(c) water
in air(a) water(b) overflowed(d) object(d-c)
(a-b)

Table 11.3
 Can you analyse the table and say, what is the relationship between the
weight lost by an object in water and the weight of water displaced by it?
 Can you find out the relationship between buoyant force and the weight
of the displaced water?
Write your inferences in your science diary.
Compare the inferences with the statement given below.
The buoyant force experienced by an object when it is fully
or partially immersed in a liquid is equal to the weight of
the liquid displaced by it.

This is Archimedes principle.

116
Floatation
Haven’t you seen some objects floating on
water and some others sinking?
List those which you know.
Those floating on Those sinking in
water water

Fig. 11.7

 Why do some objects float on and some others sink in water?

 Using a spring balance, find out the weight in air of a wooden block that
can float on water.
 What is its weight while floating on water?
 Why does the wooden block weigh zero in water though the Earth
attracts it downwards?
If so, what are the forces acting here? What is the relationship between them?
You know that the buoyant force acting on a body is equal to the weight of
the liquid displaced by it. If so, write the conditions required for an object to
float on a liquid.
$ The weight of the floating object and its buoyant force will be equal.
$
This is the law of floatation.
Write a definition of floatation.

‘ Though a piece of iron sinks in water, a ship made of iron floats on water.
Why?

117
Haven’t you often heard the complaint, ‘Milk is adulterated by adding water’?
‘ What is the instrument used to identify this adulteration?
‘ How does this instrument work?
You have understood that the weight of an object floating on a liquid and the
weight of the liquid displaced by it are same. If the same object floats on liquids
having different densities, will the same volume of the liquid be displaced?
Let’s do an experiment?
Take water in a measuring jar and mark the water level. Allow a wooden
block to float on the water. Mark the water level again. Repeat the experiment
using kerosene.
Based on the law of floatation record the inference you
reached. Place a hydrometer in the liquids which you used
for the experiment.
 What do you observe?
 Why is the hydrometer seen raised in water and lowered
in kerosene?
Based on the law of floatation, record your findings in the
science diary. Fig. 11.8

Using hydrometer, we can find out the density of other liquids in comparison
with the density of water.
The relative density of an object is the ratio between the
density of that object and that of water.
$ Now, can you say how a lactometer helps to know the purity of milk?
$ Try to make a lactometer / hydrometer using straw, sand and wax.
Atmospheric pressure
Haven’t you understood that liquids exert pressure? Do gases exert pressure?
Let’s see.

A Conical Flask that Swallows Egg

Can you insert a boiled egg, whose shell has been
removed, effortlessly into a narrow-necked conical
flask? Please try.
If you can’t, put a piece of burning paper in the
conical flask and then place the egg at the mouth.
What do you observe? Can you find out the reason?
Fig. 11.9

118
 We use pumps to pump out water from wells etc. The pumps in olden
days were quite simple. It consisted of a long pipe, one end of which
was immersed in the water in the well. The other end will be connected
to a cylinder. The pump has a handle. Labourers will move it up and
down. As the handle works, water will flow upwards. How does the
water rise? When the handle works, a vacuum will be created in the
cylinder. Water will rise up to fill this vacuum. What is the force that
raises the water? It was believed that the water flowed through the pump
because nature didn’t love vacuum spots. The Italian scientist Torricelli
gave a scientific answer for this. Torricelli was the disciple of Galileo
Galelie who discovered that air had weight.

What information might Torricelli have made use of in order to explain the
rise of water through the pump?
$ There is an air column enveloping the Earth.
$ The weight of this air is exerted on the surface
of the Earth.
$ Atmospheric pressure is the weight of air
exerted on unit area.
On the basis of atmospheric pressure, find out the
reason for the egg to slide into the beaker.
‘ Does atmosphere exert pressure downwards
only?
Fig. 11.10
Let’s find out.
$ Fill water in a plastic bottle and close it tight. Make a small hole at the
bottom of the bottle. Does water flow down through the hole?
Make another hole on the side of the bottle, above the water level. Hold it
closed and then open it and repeat the process.
‘ What do you see? What is the reason?
Write the inference you arrived at.

119
Can you measure atmospheric pressure?

Torricelli was the first to measure

atmospheric pressure. He melted and
closed one end of a long glass tube and Vacuum
filled it with mercury. He covered the open
end with his finger. Then he immersed the
open end into a dish full of mercury. He
removed the finger holding the tube as 0.76 -metres
such. Then the level of mercury in the tube
started falling. After a while the fall
stopped. Torricelli measured the height of Mercury
mercury in the tube. It was 76cm at sea
level. Fig. 11.11

 Why did mercury remain at a height of 76cm instead of falling down

fully?
 Has it got any relationship with atmospheric pressure?
Record your findings in your science diary.

The instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure is barometer.

$ The height of mercury level in the barometer midway up of Mount
Everest is 50cm and at the top of the peak it is 30cm.

What may be the reason? Record your inference.

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